World Economic Forum founder Schwab to retire from leadership role

Geneva: Klaus Schwab, the founder and for decades the face of the World Economic Forum, will step away from executive leadership in the coming months,...

Geneva: Klaus Schwab, the founder and for decades the face of the World Economic Forum, will step away from executive leadership in the coming months, the organisation said.

The WEF, which hosts the annual meeting of wealthy, famous and influential global elites at the luxury Swiss ski resort of Davos, said late Tuesday that its 86-year-old founder would soon "transition from executive chairman to chairman of the board of trustees".

The shift would take place before the next edition of the annual meeting, in January 2025.

The announcement that Schwab will be stepping back after more than half a century at the top marks the culmination of WEF's long transformation, since 2015, from a "founder-managed organisation to one where a president and managing board assume full executive responsibility", the body said.

The WEF did not spell out who would officially take the helm. The number-two executive behind Schwab is currently president Borge Brende, a 58-year-old former Norwegian foreign minister.