We have been remiss in not noting the apparent downfall of Klaus Schwab, the founder and long-time Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum. The WEF is perhaps the organization most beloved by global “elites” who consider democracy an inconvenience. While he wasn’t the original phrasemaster, it was Schwab’s WEF that popularized the slogan “You’ll own nothing and you’ll be happy.” Schwab and his colleagues, on the other hand, will own a lot.
Now, Klaus Schwab is under investigation:
World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab is under investigation by the organization he created after a new whistleblower letter alleged financial and ethical misconduct by the longtime leader and his wife.
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It included allegations that Klaus Schwab asked junior employees to withdraw thousands of dollars from ATMs on his behalf and used Forum funds to pay for private, in-room massages at hotels. It also alleged that his wife Hilde, a former Forum employee, scheduled “token” Forum-funded meetings in order to justify luxury holiday travel at the organization’s expense.
There’s also this:
The letter also raises concerns about how Klaus Schwab treated female employees and how his leadership over decades allegedly allowed instances of sexual harassment and other discriminatory behavior to go unchecked in the workplace, allegations that were raised in a Wall Street Journal article and previously investigated by the Forum. The Forum disputed the Journal’s reporting at the time, and Schwab denied the allegations against him.
The letter to WEF’s board comes from “current and former Forum employees.”
Klaus Schwab, age 88, denies everything, but has resigned as WEF chairman. We will see how the investigation plays out, but so far it looks like another instance of the age-old dynamic: a supposedly high-minded “elite” turns out to be venal and exploitative.
