The founder of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab, and the organization that he directed for more than half a century are in conversations to end their dispute that lasts months.
Schwab abandoned the World Economic Forum suddenly in April after the appearance of accusations of financial irregularities and the request for investigation by the Board, which triggered an internal conflict. In a joint statement published Tuesday at Bloomberg News, they said they expect external research to end at the end of August.
This period would be much shorter than prior investigation into accusations of harassment in the FEM, which began last summer and lasted about eight months. In addition, it would allow the forum to focus on the preparations for its annual meeting in Davos in January without the scandal that stalks it.
Meanwhile, both parties are in conversations to “normalize their relationship in order to safeguard the forum and the legacy of the founder”, According to the statement sent by email.
Schwab has denied all accusations of embezzlement and also filed a criminal complaint for the accusations they led to his departure from the forum. The statement does not mention this point.
Accelerated investigation and some reconciliation could also help the Board of Directors to advance in a new plan to find a successor for the 87 -year -old president. His early departure – Schwab wanted to stay until the beginning of 2027 – frustrated a long sustained idea of appointing the president of the European Central BankChristine Lagarde, for the position, Bloomberg reported. Lagarde declared this month that he was determined to complete his mandate, which ends at the end of 2027.
Schwab directed the Geneva -based organization for 50 years and turned its annual Davos meeting into an unavoidable event for bankers, business and political world figures. Its departure has generated intense speculations about who will assume control and what implications will have for the meeting, which includes networks with cocktails and canapés in charge of the world business and political elite, with some celebrities.
Davos brand
“The brand is sufficient to recover to some extent,” said Howard Davies, former president of Natwest Group PLC and the United Kingdom Financial Services Authoritywho has been in Davos more than 20 times. “It will be a setback, but most of those who come there to meet with customers will not care.”
The challenge, in your opinion, will be to get Not only a star of the business or political world, but also someone willing to rise and establish contacts.
“They will have to replicate it,” said Davies. “A decorative figure will not be enoughbecause it has been very active in getting the support of leaders, “he says.
The Board of Directors of the FEM is currently directed by Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, former president of Nestlé SA, interim, and includes key figures worldwide such as Larry Fink, of Blackrock Inc., and Kristalina Georgieva, executive director of the IMF. Philipp Hildebrand, from Blackrock, also recently joined, maintaining some Swiss influence on the body.
Schwab’s march has also caused some concern in Davos. The city was better known for skiing and sanitarium that became famous in Thomas Mann’s novelThe Magic Mountain, until it led its conference in 1971. In 2024, the annual income of the FEM amounted to US $ 543 million, a large part of which came from payments and fees of the member businesses, which they then generously spent on organizing evenings in the Alpina city.
“Of course, people in Davos are concerned about the future of Wef now that Schwab is gone,” said Markus Dambach, CEO of Davosworks, a local advertising company focused on the forum.
Ernst Wyrsch, who once directed the iconic Grandhotel Belvedere de Davos who housed Bill Clinton and Angela Merkel, said: “It was certainly a shock for Davos to find out that Klaus Schwab was fired.”
“If the FEM retires, that inevitably would give Davos’s loser seal,” he said in an interview.
Even Schwab himself, which otherwise praised the advantages offered to what he considered speculation with prices by local businesses.
But Davos’s vice mayor, Valerie Favre Accola, said he received multiple guarantees from the FEM Board of Directors that the forum has arrived to stay. These guarantees were also received by cantonal politicians.
