One of the biggest names in international finance is under investigation by the organization he founded.
Klaus Schwab, the controversial creator of the World Economic Forum, was accused in a whistleblowers’ letter of abusing his position with the forum to use forum funds for his personal expenses, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Schwab denied the allegations and is now considering a lawsuit to defend himself, the Journal reported.
BREAKING: The World Economic Forum has officially opened an investigation into its founder, Klaus Schwab, for alleged “financial and ethical misconduct”.
The Global Elites are turning on each other, and I am SO here for it! pic.twitter.com/Tc4UdhagFv
— Cillian (@CilComLFC) April 22, 2025
According to the Journal, the forum’s board of trustees made the decision to investigate after the organization received an anonymous letter accusing Schwab and his wife, Hilde Schwab, of mixing forum finances with their own.
“We feel compelled to share a comprehensive account of systemic governance failures and abuses of power that have taken place over many years under the unchecked authority of Klaus Schwab,” the letter stated, with the writers identifying themselves as current and former forum employees, according to the Journal.
The letter “included allegations that Klaus Schwab asked junior employees to withdraw thousands of dollars from ATMs on his behalf and used Forum funds to pay for private, in-room massages at hotels,” the Journal reported.
“It also alleged that his wife Hilde, a former Forum employee, scheduled ‘token’ Forum-funded meetings in order to justify luxury holiday travel at the organization’s expense.”
The board’s decision came at an emergency meeting on Sunday, according to the Journal.
Would you be surprised if the allegations against Schwab were proven to be true?
Schwab was not allowed to speak in his own defense at the meeting. However, in the days leading up to the meeting, he’d argued strongly against the investigation.
The World Economic Forum is best known for its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
It has long been attacked by conservatives as pushing a globalistic, socialistic international form of government aimed at destroying national sovereignty.
In January, then-newly inaugurated President Donald Trump used the Davos gathering as the setting for a blistering speech — delivered virtually from the White House — outlining his goals for his presidency. And they had little in common with the leftist bent of many of those in attendance.
Schwab, born in 1938 in then-Nazi Germany, according to his WEF biography, founded the group in 1971 and has been integral to it for more than 50 years.
The development on Sunday is just the latest in a string of his recent falls from power.
Last year, in a leadership shakeup, his title changed from executive chairman of the organization to chairman of its board of trustees.
In early April, the Journal reported, he stepped down from that chairmanship to become simply a board member. That decision came amid an investigation of allegations of discrimination against women and blacks, The Wall Street Journal reported in June 2024.
On Monday, he announced his resignation from that board, as well.
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