BOSTON - September 21 - "I personally think that society is responsible for a very significant percentage of what I¹ve earned." -- Warren Buffett, No. 2 on the Forbes 400.

WHAT: Expert analysis of Forbes 400 richest Americans (to be released this week), illustrating how society has helped them become wealthy, spotlighting selected individuals, and discussing policies that support or undermine broad wealth creation.

WHO: Responsible Wealth Founders and Directors, Chuck Collins, Scott Klinger, and Mike Lapham. They co-authored the recent report, "I Didn't Do It Alone: Society¹s Contribution to Individual Wealth and Success."

WHY: Year after year, the Forbes 400 includes many whose wealth is called "self-made." But this perpetuation of the Horatio Alger myth is destructive to our society and to wealth creation itself.

Whether helped by public research and government contracts, public education, wide-ranging taxpayer-financed infrastructure, or the myriad publicly supported and regulated institutions, no one can claim they did it alone. And yet, the myth persists.

A growing danger is that the myth can be used to justify reducing public investment in the very institutions and infrastructure that not only enable more Americans to become wealthy, but maintain a strong economy.

"Some of these billionaires want to pull up the ladder behind them. They received government help but don¹t want anyone else to." ­ Scott Klinger, Co-Director of Responsible Wealth.

Responsible Wealth is a national network of business people and affluent Americans concerned about deepening economic inequality who advocate for widespread prosperity. www.responsiblewealth.org.

###