Well you are correct, I actually make very little but the company I work for which I control makes a ton from my trading

and a fair amount on rental. I'm a futures trader, not a stock trader and if you have an edge in leveraged Futures you do well, if you don't you haemorrhage cash or just limp along pretending to be employed until savings run out.
Shep Smith's contract was 15 million a year I heard yesterday, 15 million! I think you have lost touch which how much the rich get these days. Inflation and they just get more of the cake now etc.
Your ideas of what constitutes lot are very outdated. Obama sold very very successful books, his wife even more. I recall her memoir beat 50 shades of Grey. If you were told the author of 50 shades had a good bit of cheese from the books and engagements you would not blink. But Obama has to be corrupt to get his?
After obtaining the best seller(s) reported sales, do the math. Then add the speaking fees. You will be surprised.
When you are rich in America, especially if you have a name like Hunter Biden, money comes easy, really easy. It has always been so. Companies what to be associated with names and pay for that. I knew a guy who was offered a top position in an IT firm while still in college, simply because his grandfather was a certain Chester Nimitz from Texas. Right or wrong, this buying names is rarely illegal.