World Economic Forum is now heading an Austrian – DiePresse.com
The chairman of the Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab, resigns. The economist wanted to beat a bridge between business and society. His person did not always remain without criticism. An Austrian will initially take over the management.
Companies should face their social responsibility and take into account the interests of all social groups. Klaus Schwab was based on the foundation of the World Economic Forum (WEF), which meets in Davos every year.
Now the chairman of the WEF board of trustees has declared his immediate resignation on Easter Sunday. « After my recent announcement and at the beginning of my 88th year of life, I decided to withdraw from the position of the chairman and as a member of the board of trustees with immediate effect, » the WEF quoted him in a message from Monday.
The successor comes from Villach
The board of trustees took note of the resignation at an extraordinary meeting on Sunday, it says. The board of directors unanimously appointed the deputy chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe as chairman Ad Interim.
Brabeck-Letmathe is an Austrian manager and was chairman of the food group Nestlé between 1997 and 2008, later he also led the board of directors there. Also had mandates at L’Oréal, Roche Or the Credit Suisse. He once spoke out for the privatization of water. And is considered a Fomel 1 fan, even drove rallies himself and even finished third in the overall ranking at the Africa Eco Race 2023 in the classic class.
« /> The Austrian manager, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, leads the World Economic Forum in Davos. Wintern/ Brabeck-Letmathe Peter
Schwab founded the non -profit Foundation European Management Conference in 1971, which was renamed the World Economic Forum in 1987. Every year, leaders from the international economy come together in the Swiss town of Davos. Originally to discuss modern management concepts, later the frame became wider. Therefore, politicians have been participating in the forum since 1994. Schwab expanded the foundation through a global communication platform for economic and political elites and intellectual pioneers.
In 1989 in Davos, the then German Chancellor Helmut Kohl met with the chairman of the GDR Minister Councilor Hans Modrow in order to discuss the German reunification. The meeting in 1992 between Nelson Mandela and the then South African President Frederik Willem de Klerk is also one of the diplomatic milestones in the course of the political transformation of South Africa.
Criticism about Salär and balance sheet
In addition, the global economic forum was the place of birth of the U.N. Global Compact, to which the then UN General Secretary, Kofi Annan, called. The UN Global Compact is still considered the largest network of responsible entrepreneurship worldwide. But WEF was also an important catalyst for the global find to combat AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, the small farmer initiative Grow Africa or for the gavi vaccination alliance, which has vaccinated over 200 million children since its foundation.
In other words, the Davos meeting is criticized as a exercise of power for a neoliberal elite and has therefore been repeated the goal of protest. The economist, born in Rabensburg, publicly asserted the opinion that too high manager salaries were not socially compatible, but his own annual salary of around one million Swiss francs was repeatedly criticized, as was the non-transparent disclosure of the forum finances.
