> It’s naive to believe these are not connected. Wealth buys power.

Raw power > wealth (see Putin, Vladimir: he doesn't need wealth or even to "own" anything, his raw power gets him everything wealth can buy and more). But for weaker people who aren't so powerful to control the system itself, wealth can get you a lot of power within that system.

They are not intrinsically connected. Not everyone who is wealthy is powerful, not everyone who is powerful is wealthy.