Well, isn’t this interesting?
Klaus Schwab, the founder and chairman of the World Economic Forum, surprisingly resigned without explanation earlier this week. Recently, it has come to light that the WEF is launching an investigation into allegations of misconduct by Schwab.
The World Economic Forum, renowned for its annual elite summit in Davos, Switzerland, shared that its board wholeheartedly supports an independent inquiry into the reported misconduct attributed to Klaus Schwab.
Following a report from The Wall Street Journal, which referenced a whistleblower’s letter accusing Schwab and his wife, Hilde, of financial and ethical improprieties, the Geneva-headquartered organization and event planner released a statement on Tuesday to address the issue.
Financial and ethical misconduct? Exactly what form this misconduct took is not mentioned directly, but there’s this:
The newspaper reported that the allegations were sent in an anonymous letter to the board last week and included claims that the Schwab family mixed their personal affairs with Forum resources.
In a statement sent to The Associated Press, the Forum said its board — which includes former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Jordan’s Queen Rania and European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde as members — agreed to a decision by its risk and audit committee to open the probe.
“While the Forum takes these allegations seriously, it emphasizes that they remain unproven, and will await the outcome of the investigation to comment further,” the statement said.
The zinger would appear to be the claim that the Schwab family “mixed their personal affairs with Forum resources.”
I’m not a lawyer, but that sounds to me like misappropriation of funds, at best – at worst, embezzlement. Estimates of Schwab’s net worth vary, but the most reliable reports have it at around $25 million, mostly derived from book sales and investments. That begs the question: If a guy worth $25 million is playing fast and loose with the World Economic Forum’s resources, what kind of money are we talking, here? Because a guy worth that much isn’t going to be fudging the books to allow him to buy a new Volvo. Was the Schwab family taking vacations paid for by the Forum? What, if anything, was going on? At this point, all we have is speculation, but then, there’s that sudden resignation.
On Monday, I noted a notorious piece to come out of the WEF:
The phrase “You’ll own nothing and you’ll be happy,” often attributed to Schwab, did indeed emerge from the World Economic Forum but is most often attributed to Ida Auken of Denmark, who used the phrase in a 2016 essay about the “sharing economy.” The Forum published Auken’s essay, titled “Welcome to 2030. I own nothing, have no privacy, and life has never been better.” That, it would seem, is what “business as usual” will continue to look like in Davos. No thanks!
Well, Klaus Schwab may own a lot, but if there’s anything to these allegations, he may be finding himself owning nothing and being very unhappy indeed. Of course, there won’t be any jail time for someone as rich and prominent as Klaus Schwab, and, honestly, he’s 87. Who knows if he’ll even make it through a long, drawn-out legal case, even if there is one?
The WEF has released a statement:
In a statement sent to The Associated Press, the Forum said its board — which includes former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Jordan’s Queen Rania and European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde as members — agreed to a decision by its risk and audit committee to open the probe.
“While the Forum takes these allegations seriously, it emphasizes that they remain unproven, and will await the outcome of the investigation to comment further,” the statement said.
I won’t comment on the list of people named as being on the WEF’s board, but if you’ve been reading my work for any time, you’ll have a pretty good idea what I think of Al Gore, just to name one.
Of course, the Forum is correct to note that the allegations are unproven. At this point, we don’t even know what they are. There will, obviously, be an investigation, and we can hope it will be above board. (Insert eyeroll here.) There may be nothing to this; the allegations may be unfounded. But Klaus Schwab did resign awfully precipitously.
The next meeting at Davos should be interesting, indeed.
And, of course:
The AP was not immediately able to reach Schwab or a contact person for him.
You don’t say.
We’ll continue to keep an eye on this investigation and update you as events unfold.
