Calling opportunists "elites" paints them as somehow better than many others simply because they got the opportunity given their life conditions. I think referring to wealth as "elite" is damaging to our perspective and that word is not fitting for what they are. By calling them "opportunists" we label them correctly as per the definition semantically.

"opportunist": One who takes advantage of any opportunity to achieve an end, often with no regard for principles or consequences.

"elite": A group or class of persons considered to be superior to others because of their intelligence, social standing, or wealth.

By calling them "elites" you are granting them power over your perception of what they really are. They are human opportunists, nothing about them is "elite", they are not superior.

In the book 1984, Orwell talks about this problem he calls "newspeak" where they manipulated the words they used to shape their perspective, and I think this is an example of that.