Peter A. Fischer, Lorenz Honegger, Karin Hofer (Bilder)

To secure the foundation's location in Switzerland, Schwab advocates donating the valuable property at its headquarters in Cologny, near Geneva, to the public sector. He wants to know from the Swiss foundation supervisory authority what his rights as a founder are.

For over half a century, Klaus Schwab shaped the World Economic Forum (WEF) – but last Easter, under unfortunate circumstances, the WEF slipped from his grasp. Now, the NZZ met with him in Zurich for an interview. The WEF founder addresses the events and explains what he sees as the purpose of the foundation he established, which supports the forum. It also becomes clear: The soon-to-be 88-year-old continues to be brimming with ideas, writes one book after another, worries about the future, and yet still believes in a better world.

by Klaus Schwab
Schwab is the founder of the World Economic Forum and the author of « Longevity and Retirement in the Intelligent Age »

History will look back at our time and ask a simple question: How could humanity extend life so dramatically—yet fail to redesign the way we live accordingly ?

We are going through one of the most profound transformations in human history. Artificial intelligence is reshaping industries. Digital platforms are reorganizing power. Entire sectors are being reinvented. Yet the most revolutionary development is neither technological nor geopolitical. It is demographic.

Professeur Klaus Schwab
Fondateur du Forum économique Mondial et de la Schwab Academy

Dans un monde saturé de sommets, la pertinence ne se mesure plus à la visibilité mais à la cohérence du projet. C’est cette épreuve que traverse aujourd’hui le Forum économique mondial de Davos.

Pendant plus d’un demi-siècle, le Forum a porté le projet d’une coopération globale, où des sociétés ouvertes, des marchés responsables et un dialogue au-delà des frontières politiques, culturelles et économiques se renforcent mutuellement comme fondements de la stabilité et de la prospérité. Il n’a pas été conçu comme un cycle de conférences, une scène politique ou un lieu de transactions. Sa vocation était normative : servir le bien commun mondial.

by Klaus Schwab

Wir stehen vor einer dramatischen, aber wenig greifbaren Krise. Wenn die Wahrheit instabil wird, verliert die Gesellschaft ihre Orientierung.

Unter der Oberfläche politischer Volatilität und technologischer Beschleunigung erodieren zwei Grundlagen: Wahrheit und Vertrauen.

by Klaus Schwab
Klaus Schwab is the founder of the World Economic Forum and the author of « Thriving and Leading in the Intelligent Age »

Our society faces a dramatic, but elusive, crisis.

Beneath a surface of political volatility and technological acceleration lie two quietly deteriorating foundations: truth and trust. Their erosion is reshaping the global landscape more profoundly than the events that dominate headlines.