Because of his wealth – by the time of his death his estate was worth an estimated € 110 million – he was called "Rothschild of Hamburg".

Subsequently, he started his own business as a draft broker, cooperating closely with Emanuel Anton von Halle.

Heinrich though, who had fallen in love with Salomon's daughter Amalie, devoted himself chiefly to poetry and took very little interest in business.

Salomon Heine's bounty and his position as benefactor are traded by an anecdote: emissaries from a religious order who intended to build a hospital were asking wealthy Hamburg residents for donations.

It turned into a demonstration of connecting popularity: thousands of people, Jews as well as Christians, spontaneously accompanied Heine on his last journey to the Ottensen Jewish cemetery.