If they’re the “cream of the crop,” the cream is mighty thin.
Some of the smartest people I know never had near the education level of some of these people. They did however have real world experience to educate that keen mind.
The elites do well in flush times with lots of minions at their disposal. In tough times, except for the very few that keep their money and power, they don’t do so well. They are not usually that smart or have much of a survival ability. In those situations those that are use that to prey on others to keep the standard of living up. In a unarmed society that is.
I think that’s why we became such a great nation. Till FDR it was a meritocracy for the most part. The greatest minds rose to the top because they had no real upper crust holding them down. Even many of those in the upper crust got there by merit. Now we are starting to go the way of dead former empires.