The "well-connected financier" storyline generally falls apart on closer inspection. Of what is actually known and documented about how Epstein obtained his money, it was mostly through stock and real estate gifted to him by Les Wexner.
Which is why these people were meeting with him like he was a well-connected financier.
The people who were meeting with him weren't checking his bank account balances to see if he was really a billionaire or how he got his money.