Davos founder at centre of misconduct row – days after he retired as chairman of the global gathering of elites

By JOHN-PAUL FORD ROJAS

Updated: 22:03 BST, 24 April 2025

A bitter row has broken out over allegations of misconduct surrounding 87-year-old Davos founder Klaus Schwab – days after he retired as chairman of the global gathering of elites.

Schwab reportedly faces accusations, which he denies, including that he asked junior staff to withdraw thousands of dollars from cash machines for him.

A whistleblower letter is said to claim the founder of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in 1971, used its funds to pay for ‘private, in-room massages at hotels’. 

The anonymous letter to the WEF board, whose members include Queen Rania of Jordan, former US vice-president Al Gore and BlackRock boss Larry Fink, prompted it to launch an investigation.

But in a statement reported by the Financial Times, Schwab criticised former colleagues for responding to ‘calumnious’ and ‘unfounded’ allegations without giving him the chance to respond.

Schwab said he was the victim of a ‘character assassination’ and denied all claims against him, which also included allegations that he asked staff to promote him for a Nobel Peace Prize.

Denial: Davos founder Klaus Schwab (pictured) reportedly faces accusations including that he asked junior staff to withdraw thousands of dollars from cash machines

The whistleblower reportedly said he manipulated the WEF’s global competitiveness report after being approached by countries unhappy with their ranking.

Schwab said: ‘Some governments contacted me offering corrections to take updated data into account or to correct flaws. I passed on this information to the teams. To construct this as manipulation is an insult to my academic standing.’

The WEF organises an annual January gathering of elites at the Swiss resort of Davos. 

This year it was attended by nearly 3,000 senior figures including presidents, prime ministers and chief executives, and featured a live videolink address by Donald Trump days after his inauguration as US president.

This week, it was announced that Schwab was stepping down as chairman and quitting the board. 

Subsequently, a report in by The Wall Street Journal cited allegations of financial and ethical misconduct by Schwab and his wife, Hilde, including claims that the family mixed personal affairs with Forum resources.

The WEF said its board backed an independent investigation.

‘While the Forum takes these allegations seriously, it emphasises that they remain unproven, and will await the outcome of the investigation to comment further,’ its statement said.

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Davos founder at centre of misconduct row – days after he retired as chairman of the global gathering of elites

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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk