Klaus Schwab’s time at the top of the World Economic Forum (WEF) is coming to an end, the 86-year-old announced on Tuesday. He will assume a new role as chair of the globalist body’s board of trustees—a non-executive position.
Schwab founded the WEF in 1971. It is a global gathering of business leaders and politicians (more than 50 heads of government attended last year’s meeting) which critics say has come to represent the worst aspects of the global managerial elite. It has also become a hugely profitable enterprise, pulling in annual revenues of €500 million.
In a total word salad of a statement, a WEF spokesman said on Tuesday:
Since 2015, the World Economic Forum has been transforming from a convening platform to the leading global institution for public-private cooperation.
As part of that transformation, the organisation has also been undergoing a planned governance evolution from a founder-managed organisation to one where a president and managing board assume full executive responsibility.
Online speculation soon turned to the question of who would take over from Schwab’s leadership role. Many have suggested that the radical leftist and Iraq-invading former UK prime minister Tony Blair would be a good fit, which is a fairly clear indication of the WEF’s (infinitesimal) popularity. Indeed, Blair was noted as one of the “most commonly suggested” candidates for the role in a 2023 Politico rundown.
But reports suggest that WEF President Børge Brende will take over. The name of this Norwegian politician is unlikely to ring many bells, but he is sure to come under some heavy scrutiny over the coming months.
So too will the legacy of Schwab’s WEF leadership. The body is beloved by large elements of the elite, but, as British writer Andrew Orlowski wrote in UnHerd, has become hated across the whole political spectrum:
For the Left, … Davos Man is a neoliberal bogeyman, whose greed has opened the door for populists like Trump. For conservatives, Schwab’s “stakeholder capitalism” subverts both the market and a functioning democracy. And with the rise of social media, WEF has fed the appetite for conspiracy theories.
The WEF says a leadership “transition” will take place by January 2025.
