There's as much of a middle class than there is with our current societies. Revolution into capitalism happened because the bourgeoisie saw itself too rich to be of the lower class. They wanted the privileges. They got them.
But the thing is that liberalism is neo-feudalism. The state protect the weak. Without the state, the powerful can do whatever they want. The tech bros think they are among the powerful, that's why they want more neo-feudalism. Exactly like the bourgeois wanted access to privileges.
And if you can earn a million each year as an alternative, why wouldn't you go for it? I love science, but we live in a real world, not in a dream, and this real world decided that science wouldn't be rewarding.