With a death tax and a legal system that allows wealth above a certain level to be shielded you enshrine the elites.
Elites happen (like shit). If you can deal with that and not twist society and laws to try to prevent them you may find they won’t matter as much because new blood will constantly be added and those may be folks like the guys who started those great fortunes.
You know, people who frequently made fortunes making stuff people wanted, at a price they were willing to pay (in truth they WERE voted for on their way up, every time people chose to buy from them. It is mainly the bankers and lawyers that were not producers of value).
I have no issue with elites; all the power to them! I have issues with hereditary elites - we used to call them aristocracies and such.