World Economic Forum (WEF) founder Klaus Schwab has resigned as chairman of the organization.
“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,” Schwab said.
His resignation was accepted during what was considered an “extraordinary” board meeting, the WEF explained.
Vice Chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe is now interim chairman.
Schwab wrote in an email to trustees earlier this month that he was “deeply convinced that in today’s special context the forum is more important and relevant than ever before.”
“It is also financially very well equipped thanks to successful financial management since its beginning,” the email read. “What is essential now after the turmoil of the last months, is to recover our sense of mission.”
Last year, the WEF founder said he would be transitioning to a non-executive role. “By January 2025, Klaus Schwab will transition from Executive Chairman to Chairman of the Board of Trustees,” an announcement read. “In addition, the Forum’s prominent Board of Trustees 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.”
Schwab was one of the leading voices behind the idea of a “great reset” of capitalism during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the WEF founder, a “great reset” was necessary to “revamp all aspects of our societies and economies, from education to social contracts and working conditions,” he wrote in 2020.
