I have never met Bill Gates personally but my wife and I have met some of the other Microsoft Founders, Steve Balmer and Paul Allen in social situations. They are smart guys obviously, but there are many smart people around. Being lucky SOBs does the most to explain their great wealth. The true innovators have typically not been the ones who become incredibly wealthy in our society.
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I like to read biographies and almost everyone who’s exceptionally famous or wealthy had the good fortune of being in the right place at the right time with the right idea. And it’s also true that most of them are very intelligent and/or hard workers.
I agree with your assessment completely. They also tend to recognize the potential of other people's ideas, the potential of their associates and they understand and know how to delegate. So it is an oversimplification to say that they are just lucky SOBs. The problem is that many start to believe that the gifts that they do possess and their success give them special insight into areas outside of their area of expertise. In some cases they are correct, but in other cases they can be way off the mark.
Bill Gates is from a sheltered liberal society in an affluent area. He has no personal knowledge of true hardship. Like many of us he appears to be a silly overgrown spoiled child in many accounts.