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Reflect on decades of efforts to make the world a better place.
That’s Dr. Klaus Schwab, 84, founder of the World Economic Forum (WEF), who has just published a new book called “Restoring Truth and Trust.”
“When I look at the world right now, our entire environment — political, economic, social, technological — is transforming… Here we are seeing an erosion of truth and trust at the same time. So, I’m very concerned that if we don’t restore truth and trust, if we don’t have the ability to restore truth and trust in society, we’re going to lose control of society. [transformative] process,” Schwab told me on a new episode of Yahoo Finance’s Unfiltered Bid Opening podcast (video above; listen below).
He emphasized that the World Economic Forum, founded by Schwab in 1971, aims to promote dialogue among businesses, governments and civil society, and believes that complex global challenges cannot be solved by any one sector alone. Schwab said the principle of multi-stakeholder cooperation remains at the heart of the World Economic Forum’s mission today.
Some important points from the chat:
Schwab said of his legacy: “For example, if I look at different aspects of the World Economic Forum, there are probably two things that I’m most proud of. The first thing is that the forum has been a decisive factor in building better relationships in many cases, in one case even to prevent war, and so on. But the other thing that I’m particularly proud of is the social entrepreneurs that we have created as a community. We can demonstrate a positive impact on the lives of over 800 million people.”
Schwab on President Trump’s 2026 Davos speech: “I think, in a way, Davos always reflects what’s going on. A lot of people say they come to Davos at the beginning of the year to feel the pulse of the year. This year, Davos has the opportunity to welcome President Trump and his key cabinet members and the very strong American business community. I think that’s reflective of what’s going on in the world, the most important of which is that, let’s say, the United States determines the news.”
Schwab on the future of relations between Europe and the United States: “I think, at the end of the day, a partnership requires two equals. A partnership is stable if you have two partners of equal weight. You could say that Europe has more or less the same economic weight as the United States.”
Schwab on whether the annual meeting should leave Davos: “My hope is that we stay in this village…The soul of the conference is that it is not just a place where business and politicians come together, but where all the key stakeholders come together [meet]. I return to the concept of stakeholders. We are all key stakeholders, which is why I work particularly hard to integrate young people’s voices and integrate NGOs. So you have the full diversity of global society. “
