"Maybe we naively funded them enough for this to not be true. Now they are self sustainable."

It's impossible for the rich to be self-sustainable—or for anyone living a modern lifestyle. All of their foodstuff, medicine, and other things that keep them alive are produced by the general populace. Also, most of their wealth is immaterial stock market value, so if the world goes to shit, so does their net worth. They need us more than we need them, but most are under the impression that the opposite is true. We'd be totally fine without most of their trinkets we've become accustomed to.