Over the course of a gripping story that goes from 1870 to today, "American Capitalism – The Cult of Wealth" tells how a small elite has always justified its hyper-wealth in America. From the powerful philanthropic alibi to the constantly renewed promise of trickle-down, from the myth of the self-made man to the heroic figure of the visionary genius of Silicon Valley, this documentary reveals a grand capitalist narrative that is both immutable and unalterable, and at the same time the shadow of which 722 billionaires and 22 million American millionaires continue to enrich themselves without limit and in complete discretion.