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Profiles

World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum (WEF) is a supranational non-governmental organization based in Davos, Switzerland. It describes itself as the “International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation,” and represents the interests of more than 1000 global corporations.[1]

History

The WEF was initially founded in 1971 by Klaus Schwab as the European Management Forum as a foundation to "promote events that serve a closer cooperation of the international, and in particular the European industry, in the elaboration of role models and concepts for responsible and successful management."[2] Its name was changed to the World Economic Forum in 1987.[3]

In 1992, Schwab launched the Global Leaders for Tomorrow program.[2:1] This first iteration was shut down after the class of 2003. According to economist Richard Werner, who was selected in 2003, the program was closed down and rebooted as a more controllable group because there started to be too many people asking difficult questions in the forum.[4]

In 2004, the Global Leaders for Tomorrow was relaunched as the Forum of Young Global Leaders with $1 million won through the Dan David Prize.[2:2][5] Nicole Schwab served as founding director of the new program.[6] It serves as a successor to Henry Kissinger's International Seminar program.[7]

Klaus Schwab launched the Global Shapers Community in 2011, housed within the World Economic Forum.[8][9]

On June 4, 2015, the WEF published a report titled Managing the Risk and Impact of Future Epidemics: Options for Public-Private Cooperation.[10]

In July 2015, a paper outlining an idea for a new global funding mechanism for vaccine development was published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) written by Jeremy Farrar, Stanley Plotkin and Adel Mahmoud.[11] Their concept was further expanded at the 2016 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where it was discussed as a solution to the problems encountered in developing and distributing a vaccine for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic.[12] This led to the launch of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) on January 18, 2017 at the WEF.[13]

The WEF launched the Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy (PACE) in January 2018.[14]

In June 2018, the WEF named Apeel Sciences as a Technology Pioneer.[15]

The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2019 took place from January 22-25.[16] There, the WEF launched the Global Coalition for Value in Healthcare.[17]

On June 13, 2019, the WEF and the United Nations signed a "Strategic Partnership Framework outlining areas of cooperation to deepen institutional engagement and jointly accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development."[18]

The WEF co-hosted a pandemic preparedness exercise called Event 201 in New York City on October 18, 2019, in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.[19]

In November 2019, the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) joined the WEF's Platform for Shaping the Future of Media, Entertainment and Sport as a flagship project.[20]

COVID-19

During the COVID-19 crisis, a significant number of world leaders happened to be former members of the Young Global Leaders program. This resulted in an apparent “lockstep” response to the crisis.[21]

In April 2020, Open Philanthropy recommended that the WEF receive a $50,000 grant from Good Ventures for a workshop hosted by the Global AI Council and the Center for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence (CHAI), intended to "facilitate the development of AI policy recommendations that could lead to future economic prosperity."[22][23]

The WEF developed the CommonPass in partnership with The Commons Project, collaborating with the Vaccination Credential Initiative (VCI), the CommonTrust Network and "a broad, global coalition of public and private partners" to integrate the SMART Health Card system worldwide.[24][25][26]

In 2020, UNICEF “established a landmark joint charter with the WEF in which 18 airline and logistics companies pledged to prioritize the transport of COVID-19 vaccines procured through the COVAX Facility.”[27]

In December 2020, the WEF published a document titled "Agile Regulation for the Fourth Industrial Revolution: A Toolkit for Regulators".[28]

On May 21, 2024, the WEF announced that Klaus Schwab would be stepping back from his role as executive chairman of the organization, transitioning into a non-executive chairman role.[29]

Organization

Name Position Notes
Klaus Schwab Founder and Non-Executive Chairman[2:3][29:1] Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship
Jennifer Blanke Agenda contributor[30] Advisory Council on Economic Growth, Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, Eurogroup Consulting
Awa Marie Coll-Seck Agenda contributor[31] Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, Medicines for Malaria Venture, Afrivac Foundation
Chrystia Freeland Trustee[32] Government of Canada, Global Leaders for Tomorrow
Nik Gowing Member, Global Agenda Council on Geo-Economics[33] Atlantic Storm
Avril Haines Member, Global Future Council on Geopolitics[34] Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
Greg Hunt Director of Strategy (2000-2001)[35] Department of Health and Aged Care, Liberal Party of Australia, Parliament of Australia, McKinsey & Company, Global Leaders for Tomorrow
Safaa Khan Agenda contributor[36] Global AI Action Alliance, Global Shapers Ottawa
Anthony Leiserowitz Contributor[37] Population Media Center
Mark Malloch Brown Vice-Chairman[38] Global Business Network (GBN), Soros Fund Management
Noah Raford Agenda Contributor[39] Global Business Network (GBN), Dubai Future Foundation
Daniel Rothschild Contributor[40] Netacs, Israel Defense Forces (IDF)
Peter Schwartz Agena contributor[41] Global Business Network (GBN)
James C. Smith Member, International Business Council; Member, Partnering Against Corruption Initiative; Agenda contributor[42] Pfizer, Thomson Reuters, Atlantic Council
Alain Wouters Agenda Contributor[43] Whole Systems, Global Business Network

Subsidiaries and initiatives

Partners

Organizations officially partnered with the WEF include:[44][45]

The WEF has been a client of Entertainment Media Ventures.[83]

Publications

  1. Davis, I. (2021, December 13). The “New Normal” & the Civil Society Deception. Unlimited Hangout. http://archive.today/2022.03.23-141654/https://unlimitedhangout.com/2021/12/investigative-reports/the-new-normal-the-civil-society-deception/ ↩︎

  2. A Partner in Shaping History. (2010). World Economic Forum. https://web.archive.org/web/20230821064210/https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_First40Years_Book_2010.pdf ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  3. Who is – and who is not – attending the World Economic Forum? (2023, January 16). Al Jazeera English. https://web.archive.org/web/20230829194021/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/16/who-is-and-who-is-not-attending-the-world-economic ↩︎

  4. The Last American Vagabond. (2021, August). Richard Werner Interview - Covid Measures and the Central Controls over the Economy. Super U. https://superu.net/video/926eb21f-fa07-4f56-bb47-dd9d0f5f197e/ ↩︎

  5. Nadis, S. (2009). Next–Generation Leadership. Harvard Kennedy School. https://web.archive.org/web/20090907022046/https://www.hks.harvard.edu/news-events/publications/harvard-kennedy-school-magazine/archives/summer-2009/next-generation-leadership ↩︎

  6. Nicole Schwab - Agenda Contributor. World Economic Forum. Retrieved August 1, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.08.01-114204/https://www.weforum.org/agenda/authors/nicole-schwab ↩︎

  7. Vedmore, J. (2022, August 30). The Kissinger Continuum: The Unauthorized History of the WEF’s Young Global Leaders Program. Based Underground. https://web.archive.org/web/20221103021506/https://basedunderground.com/2022/08/29/the-kissinger-continuum-the-unauthorized-history-of-the-wefs-young-global-leaders-program/ ↩︎

  8. Who are the Global Shapers? (2011, October 7). World Economic Forum. http://archive.today/2023.01.15-143942/https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2011/10/who-are-the-global-shapers/ ↩︎

  9. Building a movement. Global Shapers. Retrieved February 8, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.02.08-214410/https://www.globalshapers.org/story ↩︎

  10. Managing the Risk and Impact of Future Epidemics: Options for Public-Private Cooperation. (2015, June 4). World Economic Forum. https://web.archive.org/web/20230831170430/https://www.weforum.org/reports/managing-risk-and-impact-future-epidemics-options-public-private-cooperation/ ↩︎

  11. Plotkin, S. A., Mahmoud, A. A. F., & Farrar, J. (2015). Establishing a Global Vaccine-Development Fund. New England Journal of Medicine, 373(4), 297–300. https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmp1506820 ↩︎

  12. CEPI officially launched. (2017, January 18). CEPI. http://archive.today/2021.12.17-210026/https://cepi.net/news_cepi/global-partnership-launched-to-prevent-epidemics-with-new-vaccines/ ↩︎

  13. Solberg, E. (2017, January 20). $460 Million Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation Launched. Philanthropy News Digest. https://web.archive.org/web/20220112055033/https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/460-million-coalition-for-epidemic-preparedness-innovation-launched ↩︎

  14. Zopf, Y. (2018, October 22). Fast-tracking a Zero Waste Economy: More Governments and Business Leaders Commit to Circular Economy Action. World Economic Forum. https://web.archive.org/web/20210627065559/https://www.weforum.org/press/2018/10/fast-tracking-a-zero-waste-economy-more-governments-and-business-leaders-commit-to-circular-economy-action ↩︎

  15. Vanham, P. (2018, June 21). Meet the 2018 World Economic Forum Technology Pioneers. World Economic Forum. https://web.archive.org/web/20230510153759/https://www.weforum.org/press/2018/06/meet-the-2018-world-economic-forum-technology-pioneers/ ↩︎

  16. World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2019 Overview. World Economic Forum. Retrieved December 22, 2018, from https://web.archive.org/web/20181222095741/http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_AM19_Meeting_Overview.pdf ↩︎

  17. Global Coalition for Value in Healthcare. World Economic Forum. Retrieved August 29, 2024, from http://archive.today/2024.08.29-234026/https://initiatives.weforum.org/global-coalition-for-value-in-healthcare/about-global-coalition ↩︎

  18. Tedeneke, A. (2019, June 13). World Economic Forum and UN Sign Strategic Partnership Framework. World Economic Forum. http://archive.today/2023.01.07-201341/https://www.weforum.org/press/2019/06/world-economic-forum-and-un-sign-strategic-partnership-framework/ ↩︎ ↩︎

  19. Event 201, a pandemic exercise to illustrate preparedness efforts. Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. Retrieved January 3, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.01.03-222033/https://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/event201/ ↩︎

  20. The Global Alliance is creating a safe media ecosystem. (2019, November 26). World Economic Forum. http://archive.today/2024.03.26-202342/https://www.weforum.org/impact/media-alliance-scales-up/ ↩︎

  21. Hidden Alliance of former WEF Young Global Leaders working in Lockstep to enforce the Great Reset include Macron, Trudeau, Ardern, & Boris Johnson. (2022, January 27). The Exposé. https://web.archive.org/web/20220201015353/https://dailyexpose.uk/2022/01/27/great-reset-wef-young-global-leaders-trudeau-macron-ardern-boris/ ↩︎

  22. World Economic Forum — Global AI Council Workshop. Good Ventures. Retrieved September 1, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.09.01-165644/https://www.goodventures.org/our-portfolio/grants/world-economic-forum-global-ai-council-workshop/ ↩︎

  23. World Economic Forum — Global AI Council Workshop. (2020, April). Open Philanthropy. http://archive.today/2023.09.01-170003/https://www.openphilanthropy.org/grants/world-economic-forum-global-ai-council-workshop/ ↩︎

  24. Travel Health App. CommonPass. Retrieved December 7, 2020, from https://web.archive.org/web/20201207214015/https://commonpass.org/ ↩︎

  25. Home. CommonTrust Network. Retrieved January 20, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230120101139/https://www.commontrustnetwork.org/ ↩︎

  26. Lempert, R. (2021, June 9). Vaccine Credential Initiative: Passports; Digital Health Passes; Ontario; Ford. Canuck Law. http://archive.today/2021.06.09-222210/https://canucklaw.ca/vaccine-credential-initiative-passports-digital-health-passes-ontario-ford/ ↩︎

  27. Kunugi, J., & Mardini, C. H. Funding Compendium 2020. UNICEF. Retrieved October 13, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20221013124222/http://www.unicef.org/media/103981/file/Funding Compendium 2020.pdf ↩︎

  28. Almond, S., & Broekaert, K. (2020, December). Agile Regulation for the Fourth Industrial Revolution: A Toolkit for Regulators. World Economic Forum. https://web.archive.org/web/20210106151925/http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Agile_Regulation_for_the_Fourth_Industrial_Revolution_2020.pdf ↩︎

  29. Moon, J. (2024, May 21). World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab steps back from executive post. Semafor. http://archive.today/2024.05.21-121727/https://www.semafor.com/article/05/21/2024/klaus-schwab-says-hes-stepping-down-as-world-economic-forum-head ↩︎ ↩︎

  30. Jennifer Blanke - Agenda Contributor. World Economic Forum. Retrieved August 31, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230831141405/https://www.weforum.org/agenda/authors/jennifer-blanke ↩︎

  31. Awa Marie Coll-Seck - Agenda Contributor. (2022). World Economic Forum. https://archive.ph/G3a0s ↩︎

  32. Leadership and Governance. World Economic Forum. Retrieved August 9, 2023 from http://archive.today/2023.08.09-113530/https://www.weforum.org/about/leadership-and-governance ↩︎

  33. Nik Gowing. Policy Center for the New South. Retrieved August 31, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.08.31-142640/https://www.policycenter.ma/expertexterne/nik-gowing ↩︎

  34. Avril Haines. Brookings Institute. Retrieved May 9, 2020, from https://web.archive.org/web/20200509024324/https:/www.brookings.edu/experts/avril-haines/ ↩︎

  35. Hon Greg Hunt MP. Parliament of Australia. Retrieved January 18, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.01.18-080810/https://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Parliamentarian?MPID=00AMV ↩︎

  36. Safaa Khan - Agenda Contributor. World Economic Forum. Retrieved September 1, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.09.01-165011/https://www.weforum.org/agenda/authors/safaa-khan ↩︎

  37. Anthony Leiserowitz. World Economic Forum. Retrieved September 2, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230902014623/https://www.weforum.org/people/anthony-leiserowitz ↩︎

  38. Mark Malloch Brown. Global Business Network. Retrieved December 30, 2010, from https://web.archive.org/web/20101230141840/http://www.gbn.com/people/peopledetail.php?id=193 ↩︎

  39. Noah Raford. World Economic Forum. Retrieved June 6, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240606003136/https://www.weforum.org/people/noah-raford/ ↩︎

  40. Danny Rothschild. World Economic Forum. Retrieved June 11, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230611192801/https://www.weforum.org/people/danny-rothschild ↩︎

  41. Peter Schwartz - Agenda Contributor. World Economic Forum. Retrieved April 5, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240405214053/https://www.weforum.org/agenda/authors/peter-schwartz/ ↩︎

  42. Jim Smith - Agenda Contributor. World Economic Forum. Retrieved February 4, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.02.04-085804/https://www.weforum.org/agenda/authors/jim-smith ↩︎

  43. Alain Wouters. World Economic Forum. Retrieved June 5, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240605215302/https://www.weforum.org/people/alain-wouters/ ↩︎

  44. Managing the Risk and Impact of Future Epidemics. World Economic Forum. Retrieved September 26, 2016, from https://web.archive.org/web/20160926210305/https://www.weforum.org/projects/managing-the-risk-and-impact-of-future-epidemics ↩︎

  45. Partners. World Economic Forum. Retrieved September 1, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230901165149/https://www.weforum.org/partners ↩︎

  46. Abbott Laboratories. World Economic Forum. Retrieved December 27, 2021, from http://archive.today/2021.12.07-055454/https://www.weforum.org/organizations/abbott-laboratories ↩︎

  47. Partners and Associations. ADC Forum. Retrieved December 8, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20221208084308/https://adcforum.org/partners-and-associations ↩︎

  48. Aecon Group. World Economic Forum. Retrieved January 8, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.01.08-232321/https://www.weforum.org/organizations/aecon-group-inc ↩︎

  49. Alibaba Group. World Economic Forum. Retrieved October 20, 2021 from http://archive.today/2021.10.20-031305/https://www.weforum.org/organizations/alibaba-group-holding-limited ↩︎

  50. Alphabet. World Economic Forum. Retrieved December 28, 2021, from http://archive.today/2021.12.28-130738/https://www.weforum.org/organizations/alphabet ↩︎

  51. Amazon. World Economic Forum. Retrieved December 28, 2021, from http://archive.today/2022.06.28-200459/https://www.weforum.org/organizations/amazon-com ↩︎

  52. American Heart Association. World Economic Forum. Retrieved December 28, 2021, from http://archive.today/2021.12.28-140201/https://www.weforum.org/organizations/american-heart-association ↩︎

  53. Apple. World Economic Forum. Retrieved July 7, 2021 from http://archive.today/2021.07.27-080743/https://www.weforum.org/organizations/apple ↩︎

  54. AstraZeneca. World Economic Forum. Retrieved December 3, 2021, from http://archive.today/2021.12.03-201007/https://www.weforum.org/organizations/astrazeneca ↩︎

  55. Bayer. World Economic Forum. Retrieved December 21, 2021, from http://archive.today/2021.10.21-061033/https://www.weforum.org/organizations/bayer-d57cbbcd2e ↩︎

  56. BlackRock. (2021, June 10). World Economic Forum. https://archive.ph/pcpjt ↩︎

  57. BCG. World Economic Forum. Retrieved March 18, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.03.18-003826/https://www.weforum.org/organizations/the-boston-consulting-group ↩︎

  58. Cleaveland, A., Joshi, A., & Thomas, D. (2023, December). Cybersecurity Futures 2023: New Foundations. World Economic Forum. https://web.archive.org/web/20231216072945/https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Cybersecurity_Futures_2030_New_Foundations_2023.pdf ↩︎ ↩︎

  59. The Commons Project. World Economic Forum. Retrieved March 22, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.03.22-151501/https://www.weforum.org/organizations/commons-project ↩︎

  60. The Conversation - Agenda Contributor. World Economic Forum. Retrieved October 25, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.10.25-214925/https://www.weforum.org/agenda/authors/the-conversation ↩︎

  61. Edelman. World Economic Forum. Retrieved September 9, 2022, from https://archive.ph/L7CVK ↩︎

  62. IBM. World Economic Forum. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.03.20-163933/https://www.weforum.org/organizations/ibm-corporation ↩︎

  63. Who is Involved. Identification for Development. Retrieved December 14, 2021, from http://archive.today/2021.12.14-204402/http://id4d.worldbank.org/who-is-involved ↩︎

  64. Johnson & Johnson. World Economic Forum. Retrieved March 21, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.03.21-145954/https://www.weforum.org/organizations/johnson-johnson ↩︎

  65. KPMG. World Economic Forum. Retrieved January 4, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.01.04-181720/https://www.weforum.org/organizations/kpmg-international-cooperative ↩︎

  66. Marriott International. World Economic Forum. Retrieved January 6, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.01.06-174237/https://www.weforum.org/organizations/marriott-international-inc ↩︎

  67. Mastercard. World Economic Forum. Retrieved January 18, 2022, from http://archive.today/2021.09.26-122417/https://www.weforum.org/organizations/mastercard ↩︎

  68. McKinsey & Company. World Economic Forum. Retrieved March 21, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.03.21-183135/https://www.weforum.org/organizations/mckinsey-company ↩︎

  69. Medtronic. World Economic Forum. Retrieved January 8, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.01.08-224450/https://www.weforum.org/organizations/medtronic-inc ↩︎

  70. Merck. World Economic Forum. Retrieved February 10, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.02.10-191547/https://www.weforum.org/organizations/merck ↩︎

  71. Meta. World Economic Forum. Retrieved December 24, 2021, from https://web.archive.org/web/20211224213943/https://www.weforum.org/organizations/facebook-inc ↩︎

  72. Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE). World Economic Forum. Retrieved July 5, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240705095041/https://www.weforum.org/organizations/network-for-teaching-entrepreneurship-nfte/ ↩︎

  73. New York Times. World Economic Forum. Retrieved December 3, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.12.03-021335/https://www.weforum.org/organizations/the-new-york-times/ ↩︎

  74. Novartis. World Economic Forum. Retrieved December 23, 2021, from http://archive.today/2021.12.23-225101/https://www.weforum.org/organizations/novartis-ag ↩︎

  75. Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. World Economic Forum. Retrieved January 20, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.01.20-223043/https://www.weforum.org/organizations/ontario-teachers-pension-plan ↩︎

  76. Palo Alto Networks. World Economic Forum. Retrieved March 21, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.03.21-223318/https://www.weforum.org/organizations/palo-alto-networks ↩︎

  77. Pfizer. World Economic Forum. Retrieved March 14, 2023, from http://archive.today/2022.03.14-092916/https://www.weforum.org/organizations/pfizer ↩︎

  78. PwC. World Economic Forum. Retrieved January 12, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.01.12-080645/https://www.weforum.org/organizations/pricewaterhousecoopers-llp ↩︎

  79. Rockefeller Foundation. World Economic Forum. Retrieved December 25, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.12.25-201521/https://www.weforum.org/organizations/the-rockefeller-foundation ↩︎

  80. Shell. World Economic Forum. Retrieved January 11, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.01.11-003047/https://www.weforum.org/organizations/royal-dutch-shell-plc ↩︎

  81. Dahl, H. 2018 in Review. Sovrin. Retrieved January 29, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20220129041107/https://sovrin.org/2018_report.pdf ↩︎

  82. Community. World Government Summit. Retrieved January 21, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.01.21-094750/https://www.worldgovernmentsummit.org/community/partners ↩︎

  83. Clients & Affiliates. Entertainment Media Ventures. Retrieved April 30, 2017, from http://archive.today/2017.04.30-103630/http://emventures.com/clients-and-affiliates/ ↩︎