The ghost of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has struck again.
This time, even though he died in 2019, he still adds to the stress and criticism of the World Economic Forum.
On February 26, WEF president and CEO Børge Brende resigned following revelations that he had three dinners and some emails and text messages with Epstein. His ouster followed an independent investigation earlier in February.
Brende said he was unaware of Epstein’s sex crimes.
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“Had I known of his background, I would have declined the initial invitation to join Rod-Larsen and any subsequent dinner invitations or other communications,” he said.
That answer has not been well received by observers, as Epstein’s conviction occurred in 2008 and would have easily come to light. As Norway’s foreign minister from 2013 to 2017, he perhaps should have been more cautious, some observers say.
“When you’re on a public stage, you have to know who you’re standing with,” says Ben Habib, the right-wing leader of the British political party Advance UK and an entrepreneur.
An illuminated logo during a panel session on the opening day of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 17, 2023. (Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Alan Mendoza, founder of Britain’s Henry Jackson Society, added: “The moral is that people in positions of authority should be very careful about who they dine with.”
Mendoza also wonders how many people with criminal records have attended the WEF.
News of Brende’s resignation follows other scandals and bad publicity for the WEF, better known as Davos after the Swiss village in the Alps where the annual meeting takes place. Last year, WEF founder Klaus Schwab resigned in July following allegations that he had misused WEF funds and treated employees inappropriately.
Jeffrey Epstein in Cambridge, Massachusetts, September 8, 2004. (Rick Friedman Photography/Corbis via Getty Images)
Both Schwab and his wife were ultimately cleared of any material wrongdoing by the WEF board, although an oversight board statement noted in part that “minor irregularities, arising from blurred boundaries between personal contributions and Forum operations, reflect deep commitment rather than intent on misconduct.”
Others have problems with the WEF. Two years ago, Argentine President Javier Milei spoke in Davos.
“The Western world is in danger,” said Milei. “It is in danger because those who are supposed to defend the values of the West are being co-opted by a vision of the world that leads inexorably to socialism and thus to poverty.”
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WEF Executive Chairman and Founder Klaus Schwab addresses attendees during the opening session of the World Economic Forum 2016 Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, January 20, 2016. (Ruben Sprich/Reuters)
Milei also noted that many countries have given up freedom for collectivism, also known as socialism.
“We are here to tell you that collectivist experiments are never the solution to the problems facing the world’s citizens; rather, they are the cause,” he said in Davos in 2024.
Since 2023, when Milei took office as president of Argentina, inflation has fallen from more than 200% to 32%, according to data from Trading Economics.
Others also have a lot to tell the WEF, but most of it is not positive.
“Globalization has failed the West and the United States of America,” US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said at this year’s meeting in Davos. “It’s a failed policy. It’s what the WEF has stood for.”
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The fact is that America has fallen behind in the global economy because the WEF has encouraged the relocation of manufacturing to places with cheap labor, Lutnick said. He also encouraged other countries to follow the “America First” model, which means putting workers first.
Lutnick also attacked Europe’s push for alternative energy, including solar and wind power.
“Why would Europe agree to be net zero by 2030 if they don’t make a battery?” he wondered in Davos. Reaching net zero means countries aim to have no increase in total CO2 emissions by 2050.
Pedestrians walk past the USA House during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum at the Alpine resort of Davos on January 19, 2026. (Stof Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)
But if Europe pursues net zero, the EU will be subordinate to communist China, Lutnick says. China is by far the dominant producer, accounting for about a third of global renewable energy, compared to 11% in the US.
“The WEF is the embodiment of power and wealth,” Habib said. ‘Big money distracts from policy. It’s fascism.’ He says the world may have been misled into believing the economic promises of globalist organizations.
“The shine is off now. It’s failing and not gaining traction,” Habib said.
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The WEF is not the only organization that spans several countries. The European Union is also doing similar work with the countries in its bloc through a multitude of regulations, Habib said.
THE Associated Press contributed to this report.
