By The Guardian - Larry Elliott - Wed. 18 Jan 2023 12.15 GMT

Founder and chair Klaus Schwab has run the forum for 52 years but is now seen by some past and present staff as a law unto himself.

The future of Klaus Schwab – Mr. Davos for more than half a century – has become a talking point at this year’s meeting after World Economic Forum employees voiced strong criticism of their chair and the lack of a succession strategy.

A group of current and former WEF staff members who contacted the Guardian said the 82-year-old Schwab was a law unto himself and had surrounded himself with “nobodies” who were incapable of running the organization he 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 195 states in the world right now did not even exist. He is completely unaccountable to anyone inside and outside the organization,” the group said. Davos’s elite will need to do some soul-searching in a world falling apart read more

“We are a group of current and former employees of the WEF. We want to play our role in fostering debate about the role this organization plays in the world.”

The group said it wanted to remain anonymous. “We are hesitant to come forward 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 intensified this week after a piece on the online publication Politico said the WEF’s strategic partners – the firms that bankroll the $390m (£315m) a year business – were unhappy about the lack of a succession strategy.

The group of WEF staff members said they had posted their criticisms on the social media platform LinkedIn but they had been removed at the request of the WEF, something the organization denies.

The posts, shared with the Guardian, said: “There isn’t much of a future for the WEF beyond Klaus not just because there isn’t a clear successor but also because his managing board is such a viper’s nest that senior leadership will be at each other’s throats the moment the old man pops off.”

A WEF spokesperson said: “The board of trustees decides any future institutional leadership appointments. The forum has a strong institutional governance structure in place to ensure its continued ability to fully support its mission.”

Former UK prime minister Tony Blair is one of the leading international figures who has been linked with the role.

The group of past and current WEF employees questioned the ability of the organization to function without Schwab at the helm.

Sign up for the Business TodayFree daily newsletter

Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning

Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google ReCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

“In most organizations, the next generation of top leadership is faintly visible at the higher levels of management but at the WEF Klaus has surrounded himself with such a group of nobodies at the top that it’s hard to see how any of them could be taken seriously by anyone of consequence inside or outside the organization.

“Klaus picks his leaders using the same criteria Putin uses to pick deputies for the state duma: loyalty, guile, sex appeal. The quality of people at the top is reflective of the type of people who work for the rest of the organization.”

The head of one UK company agreed that there appeared to be no successor to Schwab lined up. “My impression is that he will die with his boots on,” the executive said.

Another longstanding Davos attendee expressed surprise that Schwab had allowed speculation about his future to surface. “If I am honest I find it a bit disrespectful [given everything he has done] but he should have known it would happen and taken steps to head it off.”

The World Economic Forum is a Swiss foundation and does not have shareholders.

PONEROLOGY

THE STUDY OF THE PURE EVIL OF PSYCHOPATHIC MINDS

It would be unsurprising if most people had never come across this word. The dictionary tells us it is related to the study of evil in the context to theology. Yet today's world is littered within the very high echelons as well as further down the ladder, with those whose comfort and familiarity stem from an unconscionable desire to further each and every end, doused in a burning effluent of psychopathic behavior. Be it in the political, boardroom, office, home, or sports field, psychopathy lives and breathes.

Recently as its breadth expands, those very same evil bastards have been trying to acquit themselves of blame by persuading all that psychopathy is a disease. As far from the truth as it comes, yet as close to the sort of lies and deceit the psychopath is defined by. Believe the Hannibal Lector stereotype and you've been suckered. Remember Hollywood's major MO is to propagandize and 'naturalize' such obscenities.

We are very grateful that there are some who have studied and truthfully related this misdefined field of human (or in case) sub-human specie.

Ponerology has been described as follows:
“In the author’s opinion, Ponerology reveals itself to be a new branch of science born out of historical need and the most recent accomplishments of medicine and psychology. In the light of objective naturalistic language, it studies the causal components and processes of the genesis of evil, regardless of the latter’s social scope.”

“…a new scientific discipline which would study evil, discovering its factors of genesis, insufficiently understood properties, and weak spots, thereby outlining new possibilities to counteract the origin of human suffering.”

The World Economic Forum is possessed by Ponerology and evil Psychopaths.