Especially in light of the parsha timing, I'd guess the comment above (thank you R' Interested!) hit it on the head -- a Medrash on Avos that comments when the Torah says "the Torah is not across the sea", it means "those who spend all their time sailing the high seas to make a living aren't going to learn a lot of Torah."
אין התורה מצויה בתגרים ובסוחרים יורדי הים באניות
A major, major caveat is that a very great rabbi -- and businessman -- addressed this. Rabbi Avraham Danzig, author of Chayei Adam and Chochmas Adam, writes in his introduction to the latter that his family's tradition was to be self-supported (a grandfather of his "fed ten children in dignity, taught Torah to the community, and never took a dime from the community"). When R. Danzig published his works, people said you're that businessman running around the trade fairs of Leipzig and Frankfurt, what are you doing writing a sefer? Then they read his work and -- ooh, aah ... stopped complaining. He says that "seagoing merchants won't get the Torah" means if their entire focus becomes on making big bucks. Someone who continues with their priorities straight and heart in the right place can still do okay.
