In establishing the "competence hierarchy", who decides who is or is not competent?

Given the way the economic system and the political system are being run in today's world, can anyone truly argue that power and wealth are, in any real sense, distributed on the basis of competence or anything even remotely resembling merit?

All Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are are men who have become megawealthy due to the inventions and innovations of others.