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Founder of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab, leaves executive position
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The founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab, will step down from his role leading the global meeting since he founded it in 1971.
Schwab announced its intentions in an email to employees on Tuesday, which was shared with Semafor by a person close to the organization.
He will step down as executive chairman and transition to a non-executive chairman role, he said, adding that the change in his role is subject to Swiss government approval.
In a statement, a Forum spokesperson said the organization is “transforming from a convening platform to the leading global institution for public-private cooperation.” The Forum’s governance structure is expected to change as a result of this evolution, the spokesperson said, and Schwab “will transition from Executive Chairman to Chairman of the Board of Trustees” by January 2025.
Schwab did not name his successor, but said that over the past year, the group’s executive board, “under the leadership of Chairman Børge Brende, has assumed full executive responsibility.”
Brende is a former Norwegian conservative leader.
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Schwab, 86, is synonymous with the organization he has led for more than 50 years.
Initially known as the European Management Forum, early iterations of the event drew far fewer attendees to Davos than the thousands now descending on the Swiss mountain city.
Now, the WEF’s annual meeting in Davos attracts dozens of world leaders and high-ranking CEOs every year, with more than 50 heads of state attending in 2024, according to the organization.
The Forum operates as a family business, with Schwab’s children appointed to senior positions and his wife Hilde leading the organization’s founding and awards ceremonies in Davos.
In recent years, the Forum has shifted its focus to the center and away from liberal politics, Semafor previously reported.
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Remarkable
Succession at the WEF has been the subject of feverish speculation, and a Political article Floating possible names stirred the meeting in 2023.
The Forum has also navigated a difficult political landscape and has returned to the center in recent years, after embracing progressive directions in culture and finance.
WEF, although a non-profit organization, is a remarkable business: The organization generated nearly $500 million in revenue in the year ending March 2023 and had a tidy 200 million Swiss francs in cash, Semafor reported last year.
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