Manipulating research, using company funds to pay for private, in-room massages, asking junior staff to withdraw thousands of dollars for personal use, demanding senior management deliver a Nobel Peace Prize nomination.
These are just some of the lurid allegations that pushed the World Economic Forum (WEF) to launch an investigation into its now departed founder, Klaus Schwab, after anonymous whistleblowers aired their concerns about the German octogenarian.
The assertions – reportedly sent last week in a letter to the WEF, which organises the annual elite gathering of globalist devotees at Davos in Switzerland – accuse Schwab and his wife, Hilde, of financial and ethical misconduct.
The family has vehemently denied each and every accusation even as he resigned as the WEF chairman.
The Guardian set out the course of events around the controversy that has swamped the unelected, unaccountable elitist organization:
The accusations prompted Schwab’s resignation as the WEF executive chair on Monday after its board of high-profile trustees – which includes the BlackRock chief, Larry Fink; the IMF managing director, Kristalina Georgieva; the former US vice-president Al Gore and cellist Yo-Yo Ma – held an emergency meeting to look into the claims on Sunday.
Schwab, 87, is said to have argued against the board’s plan for an investigation, before he resigned. The founder had indicated he intended to step down in early April, but the whistleblower letter brought forward his exit.
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The whistleblower letter included a range of claims against the Schwab family, according to the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times. They include an allegation that Schwab used WEF funds to pay for private, in-room massages at hotels, asked staff to promote him for a Nobel peace prize, and instructed junior employees to withdraw thousands of dollars from ATMs on his behalf.
The Guardian report noted allegations that academic research was also tampered with, as “The letter also accused Schwab of manipulating the WEF global competitiveness report in order to curry favour with certain governments.
“The publication ranks countries based on criteria such as education, infrastructure, labour market and health systems, and is a point of reference for the annual Davos meeting.”
Some allegations also extended to Schwab’s wife, Hilde, who formerly worked at the WEF.
They suggested she scheduled “token” meetings using WEF money to justify luxury travel at WEF’s expense, according to the Guardian report.
The letter claims Hilde also maintained tight control over the use of Villa Mundi, a grand property bought by the WEF overlooking Lake Geneva, while portions of the building were strictly reserved for the family’s own private access.
The Schwabs have repeatedly denied all the allegations, saying they were unsubstantiated and would be challenged in a lawsuit.
Schwab was born in Ravensburg, Germany, on March 30, 1938. He studied at Swiss universities and at Harvard in the United States, and holds doctorates in engineering and economics, along with more than a dozen honorary doctorates.
He was a little-known business professor at the University of Geneva when in 1971 he founded the WEF’s precursor, the European Management Forum.
