# The 10x Class

By [Brandon Donnelly](https://paragraph.com/@brandondonnelly), 2021-03-08

business, charli-damelio, dror-poleg, economics, rethinking-real-estate, the-10x-class, tiktok

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I just discovered the work and writing of [Dror Poleg](https://www.drorpoleg.com/). Initially trained as an economic historian and media theorist, Dror went on to work in advertising, tech, and real estate private equity, among probably a bunch of other things. Today he mostly writes. He's the author of [_Rethinking Real Estate: A Roadmap To Technology's Impact on the World's Largest Asset Class_](https://www.drorpoleg.com/books/). I haven't read it (yet), but I did just subscribe to his weekly newsletter. Here are a couple of excerpts from a recent post called, "[Rise of the 10X Class](https://www.drorpoleg.com/rise-of-the-10x-class/)."

> _In 2020, things are very different. Charli D’Amelio, a TikTok star that 99% of you have likely never heard of,_ [_makes_](https://manofmany.com/lifestyle/highest-paid-tiktok-stars-in-2020) _$48,000 per post. By uploading one short video every day, the 16-year-old D’Amelio can earn 20 times more than the world’s most successful singer earned in 1801. Charli is scalable in a way that was possible only for a tiny group of TV, film, and pop stars 20 years ago, and was not possible at all in Elizabeth Billington’s time._

> _The internet makes it possible for many knowledge employees to work from anywhere. The earning potential of (many of) the most productive employees is no longer capped by geography. As a result, we will see the emergence of a new class of people earning salaries that are an order of magnitude higher than what we saw in previous decades._

> _Note that I am not talking about the emergence of a handful of highly-paid superstars in the vein of Hollywood’s Brad Pitt or Tom Hanks. I am talking about micro-stars in the vein of TikTok’s Charli D’Amelio: a whole new layer of professionals than earn incomes that are a level below the biggest earners on in their field, but still much higher than what the average employee (or singer, or dancer) could earn in the pre-internet era._

> _I call this new layer of professionals the 10X Class._

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*Originally published on [Brandon Donnelly](https://paragraph.com/@brandondonnelly/the-10x-class)*