Klaus Schwab, the octogenarian founder and chairperson of the World Economic Forum (WEF), has been a naughty boy. Mr Schwab repeatedly and persistently harassed female staffers with suggestive and vulgar comments and, on at least one occasion, propped his leg on a desk to place his crotch in front of a staffer’s face whilst lamenting the fact that she wasn’t from Hawaii because he would he enjoyed watching her in ‘Hawaiian costume’.

Other staffers report having suffered similar advances. To several, Mr Schwab suggested he’d needed to find them ‘a man’ and he’d be eagerly applying for the position had he not been married (to his former assistant).

The allegations were first reported earlier this week by the Wall Street Journal which interviewed more than eighty current and former WEF employees. However, a spokesperson for the forum denied any wrongdoing by Mr Schwab and emphasised that the German “is not familiar with Hawaiian costumes.” 

Whilst the WEF proclaims to ‘improve the state of the world’, the organisation doesn’t seem to apply its rather preposterous slogan at home, cultivating a toxic work environment and consistently flouting equal opportunity rules, including institutionalised race, age and gender discrimination.

The N-Word

Though the WEF objected to the Journal’s reporting, it refused to provide clarification other than branding the statements gathered by reporters ‘false’ and ‘untrue’. However, email exchanges and HR files seem to indicate that women and non-white staffers endured systemic discrimination such as the use of the n-word within audible range of black employees.

Women returning from maternity leave were routinely dismissed on bogus charges or saw their careers suddenly derail. Female staffers were also expected to be at the beck and call of their male colleagues, including during WEF events such as the annual gathering in Davos.

In a written response to the allegations, spokesperson Yann Zopf opined that the charges ‘mischaracterise’ the organisation, its culture, and staffers. Mr Zopf, a member of the WEF Executive Committee, said that the organisation holds itself to the highest standards.

In an ironic twist, the staffers tasked with compiling and writing the annual WEF Global Gender Equality Report suffered discrimination as well. Former US Energy Department acting director Cheryl Martin, the executive entrusted with the redaction of the gender report, said: “That was the most disappointing thing, to see the distance between what the Forum aspires to and what happens behind the scenes.”

The Boss Gets Annoyed

Mrs Martin said she sought internal changes to address harassment issues and strengthen the code of conduct both internally and at public events. Her advocacy seemed to have irritated Mr Schwab who accused her of ‘overreacting’. He quickly became annoyed and promptly assigned Mrs Martin to a new role, stripping her of responsibilities, budget, and staffers. Mrs Martin left the organisation in 2018.

Mr Schwab enjoys lecturing businesses of all sizes on the need to adjust to cultural and societal change. For years, he has peddled the Fourth Industrial Revolution – his very own make-believe concept – as representing a paradigm shift in economic practices which demands an equally profound shift in management. He also promotes a ‘Great Reset’ of capitalism to avoid the ‘sharpest economic downturn’ since the 1930s.

Woke in public, but retrograde in private, Mr Schwab arguably represents the worst capitalism has to offer: an unrepentant hypocrite who drones on insufferably, spouting open-door nonsense laced with tired corporate platitudes to create a holier-than-thou impression – and charges for the favour. Thankfully, the WEF has of late seen its influence wane considerable as more and more business leaders realize that being associated with, or seen at, Davos does more harm than good.

Cover photo: Hawaiian hula dancers for Mr Schwab’s benefit: he was reportedly not familiar with the costume.

© 2011 photo by Loren Javier