The board of trustees that Mr. Schwab will soon head will be organized around four strategic committees ’to further reinforce the impact of our work.’
Klaus Schwab, the founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF), will be stepping down from his leadership role, the transnational group confirmed in a statement.
Citing an internal email from Mr. Schwab to WEF staff on Tuesday, Semafor first reported the news that he would be stepping away from his role as the face of the organization.
Subsequently, in a statement on its website, the WEF confirmed that Mr. Schwab would be transitioning from executive chairman to chairman of the board of trustees by January 2025 as part of the global institution’s “planned governance evolution” away from a founder-managed organization.
“Since 2015, the World Economic Forum has been transforming from a convening platform to the leading global institution for public-private cooperation,” WEF said in the statement. “As part of that transformation, the organization has also been undergoing a planned governance evolution from a founder-managed organization to one where a President and Managing Board assume full executive responsibility.”
Currently, the WEF managing board is chaired by the group’s president, Borge Brende, who reports to the board of trustees. The group did not reveal who would replace Mr. Schwab as the face of the organization.
The global organization added that the board of trustees that Mr. Schwab will soon head will be organized around four strategic committees “to further reinforce the impact of our work.”
“These shifts underscore our institutional continuity in providing an independent and impartial platform to address the complex challenges of an interconnected world,” the group added in the statement.
The group describes members of the WEF board of trustees that Mr. Schwab will lead as “exceptional” individuals who serve as “guardians of its mission and values” and who oversee the group’s work in “promoting true global citizenship.” Some of the members include Larry Fink, chairman and CEO of BlackRock, and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore.
In recent years, talk of the potential departure of Mr. Schwab, who is 86 years old, has been the subject of much speculation and rumor, with Tuesday’s announcement being the first confirmation that he’s taking a less prominent role at the organization.
By Tom Ozimek
