I don't think it's this "all rich jerks own commercial real estate" thing that everyone going on about. I get the feeling it's more about the managerial/director types. The ones who are maybe well off but maybe not quite rich. My director owns a 150,000 tesla, but I don't think he's near well off enough to own an office building.
Anyway, at a certain level and upwards, all you do is meet and talk to people all day. They value face to face communication because that's a more effective meeting, and builds more rapport with the members.