Intellectual local leader made money (7)
I believe the answer is:
learned
'intellectual' is the definition.
(I know that intellectual can be written as learned)
'local leader made money' is the wordplay.
'leader' indicates taking the first letters.
'made money' becomes 'earned' (I've seen this before).
The initial letter of 'local' is 'l'.
'l'+'earned'='LEARNED'
(Other definitions for learned that I've seen before include "Studied" , "Gained understanding" , "Wise, educated" , "a word defining friend from Chambers?" , "Acquired information, being well educated" .)