The individuals in question really are those strivers who have gotten to the top within their subculture. This is not a tightly organised system.
That any given character is in charge of a government department, private company, investment house or whatever it may be, is a matter of the pool of persons the pool itself determines to be “worthy”. This is a sociological phenomenon, not a conspiracy.
Consider how ant colonies work. There is no mastermind ant.
Codevilla is your man on this. If you like you can look up Gramsci’s (Gramsci is the most useful commie ever) idea of hegemony.
But there is a mastermind: Satan himself. There are countless individuals and families who have sold their souls for power, money, privilege, fame and influence on earth. Many are in high positions of power in every imaginable industry. It’s why they seem to be so difficult to expose and take out. They have supernatural forces of darkness protecting them, with limitless power and money and influence.
Father Malachi Martin spoke on this back in the 1990s. You might find his radio interviews with the legendary Art Bell on Youtube or elsewhere. Terrifying stuff.