Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images

The Milken Global Conference brings thousands of executives, investors, and politicians to Beverly Hills.

Tickets have soared to upward of $75,000, and there are different tiers of access.

Much of the real action takes place at parties and dinners hosted by firms like Apollo and Blue Owl.

At the Milken Global Conference, the talk is about saving the world, but the real action still revolves around raising money.

Between panels on policy, guided meditations, and celebrity sightings, thousands of suited financiers descend on Beverly Hills every Spring for what remains, at its core, one of the most lucrative networking events in finance.

Milken Institute CEO Richard Ditizio's opening speech highlighted wealth inequality and how a "deficit of hope" among young people has resulted in "bets on the fates of US servicemen shot down in Iran."

The program included panels about niche financial topics and AI, but also about…