Akkam’s Razor

And that's when something unpredictable happened. Generation X, a demographic once labelled as society's underachievers, seized its opportunity and began to take over the world.

"If you were to check the media 10 or 15 years ago, it was known as the lost, apathetic, slacker generation," says Barnard, one of those Xers who has turned the tables. He says the reason people in their mid-30s, such as Musk and Shnaider, are now in positions of influence is because of the very conditions they had to overcome.

"People in their 30s are a bit more scrappy. They have experienced a long period when jobs and security were scarce, so they tend to be more direct and focused about what they want."