It does not have to "make sense". It is simply an observable fact. The observations are repeatable too. That calls for a testable theory to explain it. How scientific is that?
TLDR? How about "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts, absolutely".
Wealthy people can afford to make stupid mistakes and never learn from them. They can also be quite abusive with nobody around them who will dare correct their behavior. Those activities get worse with continued repetition. It is a problem as old as human civilization.
Jump forward a generation or two and you can get some very deranged and self-destructive people in the "elites". Check out Hunter Biden for example. Better not put him in charge of anything important. He will hurt a lot of people if you do that. He will enjoy hurting a lot of people, just as he was hurt in his upbringing, and he won't stop. This cannot be fixed.
There are also structural incentives in the power system to limit or destroy the upper middle class that arises in a prosperous civilization. That is the source of all the serious competitors who might replace the current elites. The most important goal of those in power is to remain in power. Forever.
The most stable power system for elites is a feudal arrangement with an impoverished peasantry that is completely dependent on the favor of the elites to survive, and a hereditary aristocracy with unlimited power over those peasants. It is the goal to which they always strive.
Of course, those societies tend to get knocked over by hostile neighbors who run things a bit differently. And the industrial revolution, capitalism, and the current high-technology system have badly disrupted feudal organization. So much for the elites. But maybe "this time it will be different" (no, it won't).
The elites do not get what they truly want (unlimited power) from the current systems. Of course, they want to destroy those systems. They don't really need cities anymore except as their personal playgrounds or whorehouses. They can live in guarded estates and abandon cities to the ferals. That is what they are doing now.
These appalling stereotypes do not apply to all of the elites, or even most of them. But it only takes 10% to 20% of that population to dominate events. The psychopaths and sociopaths in the elite classes are strongly motivated to dominate events. Their personal survival depends upon it.
Cities are still useful to the sociopath elites as a source for ferals and other criminals that can be used to terrorize and suppress the middle classes. Elites believe they can control criminal forces and restrict them to approved targets. They are wrong in that belief.
These theories have implications and testable predictions. Check them out. If they fall short, come up with a revised theory.
Bad things are being done, by a small minority of the world’s richest people. The wild parts of the theory come from individuals who need an excuse for their personal failures.