One of the world's most powerful men quits on day Pope dies (2025)

The founder of the Davos Economic Forum has stepped down today.

Klaus Schwab, the German economist who started the powerful World Economic Forum, has resigned from the top job.

The 87-year-old millionaire left the role as the chair of the forum’s board of trustees today just as the death of Pope Francis dominated the headlines.

The move won’t come as a total surprise as the Geneva-based institution had announced earlier that Schwab is planning to step down.

Schwab, whose net worth is estimated at up to £18,000,000, said: ‘Following my recent announcement, and as I enter my 88th year, I have decided to step down from the position of Chair and as a member of the Board of Trustees, with immediate effect.’

The Davos conference, which gathers world leaders and business figures in the Swiss village, will carry on as usual, with an interim chair already appointed.

Vice chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe has taken over until the WEF committee appoints the successor.

Schwab was born in Nazi Germany in 1938 and he went on to become a professor of business policy and engineer.

Davos conferences have seen some dramatic moments.

In 2020, the US President Donald Trump and Greta Thunberg almost came face to face as both attended the forum.

The young climate activist took aim at the leaders in the audience, saying they have done ‘nothing’ to address the environmental emergency.

Meanwhile, Trump arrived all guns blazing in a convoy of jeeps, a jet and seven helicopters.

The Davos forum launched in January 1971 as a platform for business leaders and politicians to meet and brainstorm on some of the hottest global issues.

Other iconic Davos moments include the meeting between Nelson Mandela and South Africa’s then-president Frederik Willem de Klerk during the Apartheid in 1992.

Attending the Davos forum is not cheap nor is it openly available to just anyone – a corporate membership can cost anywhere between $100,000 and $1,000,000 (around £75,000 – £753,000).

And if you’re planning to go for a skiing trip to the resort during the forum, you might want to think again as hotel prices skyrocket, with rooms easily costing around $3,000 per night (£2,261).

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