Tech founders sit lower in the real power structure than most people assume, because money, not code, still sets the direction.

• Technologists build the tools but do not control the money that funds them.
• They need three things from someone else: funding, data access, and permission.
• Their real masters are the financial players pushing programmable money, digital IDs, social scores, and automation.
• Because their software crosses borders, they gain ground as globalization breaks apart.
• Their leverage is real but rented — it lasts as long as capital keeps flowing their way.

Outlook: Expect tech power to keep growing on paper while the financial side quietly decides where it points.