Rules for thee but not for me. Sick of missing out on opportunities that are reserved for accredited investors.

Can anyone give me the cliff notes and history on the rules and “why” certain investment opportunities in private equity and venture capital are reserved to accredited investors only? I understand the government wants to “protect the poor and uneducated from taking on too much risk,” but I’m highly educated and have the risk appetite to invest some “throwaway” money into riskier investments like PE and VC funds. Per the SEC , though, I’m not allowed to since I’m not rich enough per their standards.

I’ve missed out on multiple investment opportunities in the past 5 or so years simply because I’m not rich and don’t meet the requirements to be an accredited investor. One company, who I knew since it was just the solo founder, has raised hundreds of millions of dollars and is on pace to become a unicorn. Another company has exponentially grown in the past 3 years. I was offered opportunities to invest in both at or near their founding, but unable to due to SEC rules requiring investors to be accredited.

It has been a reality check to me as to why the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. Quite literally, the rich have access to investment opportunities that the poor, or even upper middle class, legally are restricted from participating in. No wonder the wealth inequality gap just keeps getting wider and wider.