Uploaded September 2019 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Often times in popular culture the elite is represented as a successful, wealthy (white) man. Less often are we offered an insider's look at how elites operate. Megan Tobias Neely (Stanford University) takes us inside the US hedge fund industry, illustrating how it has generated such extreme wealth and why mostly white men benefit. She identifies the mechanisms generating social inequality in these firms — from the division of labour to workplace culture, accountability structures, and compensation systems — and shows how this helps to explain the industry’s high incomes. The findings suggest that the elite "Boys' Club" is self-sustaining, and accelerating over time as white men concentrate their power and resources. It also stretches far beyond the hedge fund industry.
About UNRISD Conference 2018
"Overcoming Inequalities in a Fractured World: Between Elite Power and Social Mobilization", UNRISD International Conference, is a forum for analysis and dialogue that brought together academics, UN representatives, policy makers and civil society.
Learn more about the conference unrisd.org/conference2018
Often times in popular culture the elite is represented as a successful, wealthy (white) man. Less often are we offered an insider's look at how elites operate. Megan Tobias Neely (Stanford University) takes us inside the US hedge fund industry, illustrating how it has generated such extreme wealth and why mostly white men benefit. She identifies the mechanisms generating social inequality in these firms — from the division of labour to workplace culture, accountability structures, and compensation systems — and shows how this helps to explain the industry’s high incomes. The findings suggest that the elite "Boys' Club" is self-sustaining, and accelerating over time as white men concentrate their power and resources. It also stretches far beyond the hedge fund industry.
About UNRISD Conference 2018
"Overcoming Inequalities in a Fractured World: Between Elite Power and Social Mobilization", UNRISD International Conference, is a forum for analysis and dialogue that brought together academics, UN representatives, policy makers and civil society.
Learn more about the conference unrisd.org/conference2018
