Breakingviews - Davos becomes world’s most exclusive watch party

LONDON, Jan 20 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The Swiss town of Davos will this week host what amounts to an exclusive watch party for the season premiere of Donald Trump’s second term. The annual gathering of the World Economic Forum (WEF), held in the alpine resort each January, presents itself as a place where the world’s political, business, and financial leaders meet to solve big problems. This year, though, the 2,750 delegates will spend most of their time monitoring the U.S. president’s return to the White House.

In many ways, the conflab started by Klaus Schwab more than five decades ago is a testament to the global jet set’s enduring desire to rub shoulders. Irrespective of developments in communications technology – and growing awareness of the environmental cost of long-distance travel – thousands of politicians, executives, investors, bureaucrats, and journalists make the yearly trip to the Swiss alps. Once there, they’ll squeeze into overheated conference rooms and crowded cocktail parties to discuss corporate deals, the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, and the latest developments in artificial intelligence.

The gathering has proved remarkably resilient to the backlash against global elites exemplified by Trump’s first electoral victory in 2016. Baseless online conspiracy theories, opens new tab, and public antipathy to the creature known as “Davos Man”, have so far failed to dent the WEF’s allure. In the year to June 2024, opens new tab, the organisation pulled in revenue of almost 440 million Swiss francs – a quarter more than in 2019.