Does the World Economic Forum secretly plan our future at Davos?

The World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, has become the focus of many online conspiracy theorists who see the organization as a sinister group of the world’s wealthiest individuals, set on reshaping society. But is this actually true?

The World Economic Forum (WEF) is really just a non-governmental organization and private lobbying group run by the influential German billionaire Klaus Schwab, so it's not off to a good start...

Yes, this is true. The World Economic Forum and its annual meeting in Davos meeting are funded solely by the world’s wealthiest, who fund the organization through membership and partnership fees according to Insider's Tyler Nicole Rogers.

Rogers noted in her Insider report that fees can range anywhere from $28,000 USD on the low end to $620,000 in the top tiers. While only members can attend a Davos summit, the price to be a delegate isn't included in the WEF's membership fees. 

No, at least not in the beginning. Klaus Schwab’s original organization—the European Management Forum—was billed as a forum for influential European business leaders to come together and solve collective continental issues according to the group's 2010 book, 'A Partnership in Shaping.'

Photo by World Economic Forum, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1971_Opening.jpg

It wasn’t until the European Management Forum was rebranded as the World Economic Forum in 1987 that the organization began attracting political leaders and broadened its mandate to provide what The Telegraph’s Felix Lowe “a platform for resolving international conflicts."

“Numerous heads of state and former leaders, including Bill Clinton and Tony Blair, regularly attend,” Lowe wrote in a 2008 report.

Over the last few decades, Davos has hosted countless heads of state as well as other high-ranking government officals, and the World Economic Forum’s most recent annual meeting was no exception.

“Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the presidents of Spain, South Korea, Poland, and the Philippines [were] among 51 heads of state present,” according to a Reuters report. 

“Another 56 finance ministers, 19 central bank governors, 30 trade ministers, and 35 foreign ministers are also [made] the journey up into the mountains,” the report continued, which is quite a shocking number when written down. 

McKinsey & Company wrote that delegates mostly met to discuss global issues, but also noted that Davos is less about the public meetings and more about the “networking and socializing that goes on in the corridors, side rooms, hotel suites, and restaurants of the Alpine town.”

One of McKinsey’s senior partners, Acha Leke, once said that it was while attending Davos that he “had some of my best informal conversations with amazing leaders at the after-dinner events.”

Photo by McKinsey & Company website at www.mckinsey.com/our-people/acha-leke

Some with a more conspiratorial mind believe that Davos is a forum that allows world leaders to enact their sinister ambitions of imposing an authoritarian socialist world government through plans like the Great Reset.

The Great Reset was the WEF's vision of the post-pandemic world, first proposed by the Prince of Wales during the 2020 annual Davos summit. You’ve probably heard its tagline: “You’ll own nothing and be happy,” which was actually published in 2016 by the WEF on its blog according to The Sociable. 

Well, yes. The Great Reset was an initiative planned by the WEF but it isn’t as sinister as internet conspiracy theorists would have you believe. 

"The pandemic represents a rare but narrow window of opportunity to reflect, reimagine, and reset our world," Klaus Schwab said, which seems a little less worrying than an authoritarian new world order.

Yes, they are. But they’re not doing it in secret. Thousands of influential political leaders and business executives gather to put forth their best attempts at helping the masses. It's not sinister, it's just the ignorance of the billionaire class which believes their wisdom can save the world from the problems they oftentimes create...