And that's exactly it. Some people are rendered as "labor" and others are rendered as "management", and their paths diverge significantly after age 40, not based on competence, but on social connections.

I would argue that your social connections are very much based on your competence (albeit in an often different skillset).

The kinds of social connections that result in F-500 CEOship are not acquired, but inherited or (in rare cases) purchased.