In July 2018 (when we first published this piece), there was a minor uproar when Kardashian scion Kylie Jenner, who is all of 22, appeared on the cover of Forbes’s 60 richest self-made women issue. As many people pointed out, Jenner’s success would have been impossible if she hadn’t been born white, healthy, rich, and famous. She built a successful cosmetics company — now valued at $900 million, according to Forbes — not just with hard work but on a towering foundation of good luck.

Are the most successful people in society just the luckiest people?

Matthew Stewart thought he had good insurance. Then he started vomiting blood. By Ryan Cooper.

Luck has a lot to do with success. We just don’t want to admit it. By Bob Henderson.