They want power, they want workers that will work all their lives for things they can't afford and continued payment from their descendants. Money is awesome but power is better. The elite want to live like gods on a pleasant planet while everyone else owes them their existance.

For instance the feudal Japanese could chop a persons head off just because they felt like it and the elite want that kind of power on a global scale.

Humans are pack animals and those at the top get the attractive mates, symbols of status, and are revered or feared.

You should read Machivelli's The Prince to understand the elite.