It is an accident, an occurrence absolutely beyond the reach of those most affected by it. Race is such a parameter and so are gender, familial affiliation or contacts and influence. Sometimes, belonging to one such club is the prerequisite for joining another. The drive for privatization of state enterprises in most East and Central European countries provides a glaring example of oligarchic machinations. The national wealth was passed on to the hands of relatively few, well connected, individuals, at a ridiculously low price.
Some criteria are difficult to classify.
After all, making money indicates some merits, some inherent advantages. That is a contentious issue. In the USA money talks. He who has money is automatically assumed to be virtuous and meritorious. To maintain money inherited is as difficult a task as to make it, the thinking goes.