I worked at a private equity firm – THIS is why Ivy League graduates are so successful

A former secretary who worked at a private equity firm has lifted the lid on the real reason why Ivy League graduates are successful. 

TikTok user @wonteyem went viral after opening up about her experience working with young Ivy League graduates who were making $250,000 or more a year in their yearly 20s. 

She stitched the video in response to user @venusbleeds, who joked that ‘people who grew up with money will literally look into your eyes and ask you something insane like, “Do you ski?”‘

The secretary took the opportunity to share some insight into how the rich and affluent think, and according to her, everything — including college — is about making the right connections. 

She stitched the video in response to user @@venusbleeds, who joked that rich people ‘will literally look into your eyes and ask you something insane like, “Do you ski?”‘

The secretary took the opportunity to share some insight into how the rich and affluent think, and according to her, everything – including college – is about making the right connections

‘Let’s talk about rich people and how the elite have figured this s**t out way before any of us ever thought about things,’ she said. 

She recalled how she worked at a ‘high-end private equity firm in New York’ that was friendly with all the other equity firms that are now in the news ‘because they are the ones pulling the strings.’ 

‘It was normal for me to ask someone who was right next to me, “Should we get a helicopter to the private jet place, so they can take their jet on time? What should we do?” That kind of place,’ she said of the company culture. 

‘Now I’m an overpaid secretary at this place, and I am friends with a lot of the associates, which are the very young people who have come from all the Ivy League schools to work for this company.’

The secretary said one of the associates came over to her one day and started talking about how he was deciding whether he should go to Yale or Stanford for graduate school.  

‘I know, the big problems, right? He was an associate so he was going for his master’s degree. He had just finished up his bachelor’s and was in his in-between stages,’ she explained. 

The secretary recalled how a 23-year-old associate came over to her one day and started talking about how he was deciding whether he should go to Yale or Stanford for grad school

She said he was making $250,000 a year and told her ‘graduate school is just one big party’

‘He was like, “Um, you don’t go to school for school dummy. You go to these Ivy League schools for the connections,’ she said 

‘So I get to talking about how I thought about going to grad school, but I just didn’t have it in me. I’m a secretary. Remember that,’ she noted. 

‘He laughs, and he goes, “Oh, yeah. Well, it’s okay because graduate school is just one big party anyways.”‘

She remembered looking at him in shock. 

‘I’m like, “You graduated from whatever other Ivy League college, and now you’re making $250,000 as a 23-year-old, and now you’re going to grad school and it’s gonna be one big fat party? Make it make sense,”‘ she said. 

‘And he was like, “Um, you don’t go to school for school dummy. You go to these Ivy League schools for the connections.” 

‘I learned a very powerful lesson that day.’

The secretary’s video has been viewed more than 862,000 times and has received hundreds of comments. 

The secretary said she ‘learned a very powerful lesson that day’ 

The secretary’s video has been viewed more than 862,000 times, and many commenters shared other places where people make elite connections

‘I 100% believe this. It’s not the grades you make it’s the hands you shake,’ one person responded. 

‘So true,’ another agreed. ‘Rich people aren’t smart they are just well connected.’

‘I went to an Ivy. There’s two groups. Super smart kids and rich kids. Rich kids are almost always in business or law. Smart kids are STEM,’ someone else added. 

A number of commenters also shared other places where people make elite connections, including private schools and sports. 

‘There is an even better way to get these connections. Send your kids to private schools and join sports. Trust me,’ one viewer advised. 

‘Also, get [your] kids into sports that the rich are into. Golf, polo, rowing, boating…ya da ya da,’ someone else added.