The future of Klaus Schwab – Mr. Davos for more than half a century – has become a topic of conversation at this year’s meeting after World Economic Forum officials lashed out at their chairman and the lack of a succession strategy.
A group of current and former WEF workers who contacted the Guardian said Schwab, 82, was a law unto himself and had surrounded himself with “no one” who was unable to run the organization he was Founded in the early 1970s.
“Klaus has been at the helm of the WEF for 52 years. when he was born [in 1938] 122 of the current 195 countries in the world do not even exist. He is not accountable to anyone inside or outside the organization,” the group said.
“We are a group of current and former employees of the WEF. We want to play our part in promoting debate about the role this organization plays in the world.”
The group said they wished to remain anonymous. “We hesitate to get in touch as Klaus is very well connected and can make life very difficult for us even after we leave the WEF.”
Speculation about Schwab’s future has increased this week after an article in online publication Politico said the WEF’s strategic partners — the firms that fund the $390 million-a-year deal — are unhappy at the lack of a succession strategy.
The group of WEF workers said they posted their criticism on the social media platform LinkedIn, but they were removed at the WEF’s request, which the organization denies.
The posts, shared with the Guardian, said: “There’s no great future for the WEF beyond Klaus, not only because there’s no clear successor, but also because its board is such a viper’s nest that’s supreme leadership will be by the throat the moment the old man jumps off.”
A WEF spokesman said: “The Board of Trustees decides on future appointments of institutional leaders. The Forum has a strong institutional governance structure to ensure it remains in a position to fully support its mission.”
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is one of the leading international figures associated with this role.
The group of former and current WEF employees questioned the organization’s ability to function without Schwab at the helm.
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“In most organizations, the next generation of top leadership is barely visible at the higher levels of management, but at the WEF Klaus surrounded himself with such a group of nobodies at the top that it’s hard to see how any of them were taken seriously could be people of importance inside or outside the organization.
“Klaus selects his leaders by the same criteria Putin uses to select deputies for the State Duma: loyalty, guile, sex appeal. The quality of the people at the top reflects the type of people working for the rest of the organization.”
The head of a British company agreed that no successor to Schwab appeared to be in the pipeline. “My impression is that he will die with his boots on,” said the manager.
Another longtime Davos resident expressed surprise that Schwab had allowed speculation about his future to surface. “To be honest, I find that a bit disrespectful [given everything he has done] but he should have known it was going to happen and taken steps to avert it.”
The World Economic Forum is a Swiss foundation and has no shareholders.