What to know about this week’s annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos
Nearly 3,000 high-level participants from business, government and beyond – as well as countless activists, journalists and outside observers – are gathering this week in the Swiss city of Davos for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.
What is the World Economic Forum?
The forum is a Geneva-based think tank and events organizer whose main event – the annual meeting – began in 1971 in Davos, a ski resort of about 10,000 located at an altitude of about 1,500 meters (nearly 5,000 feet) in the eastern Swiss Alps.
The first edition, organized by the forum’s founder Klaus Schwab, brought together business leaders.
Since then, the meeting has evolved into a catch-all conference on issues as diverse as economic disparity, climate change, technology and global cooperation, as well as competition and conflict.
This year’s event takes place January 19-23.
What is the theme of this year’s Davos Forum?
Davos conference organizers always come up with buzzwords for the meeting, and this year’s is “A Spirit of Dialogue” — around five themes: cooperation, growth, investing in people, innovation and building prosperity. More than 200 sessions will address a wide range of issues.
Critics say Davos is too much talk and not enough action to rectify the world’s gaping inequalities and solve problems such as climate change.
The world’s richest people saw their fortunes rise in 2025, part of a long-standing trend of widening wealth inequality, according to a new report from anti-poverty charity Oxfam released at the forum. Billionaires’ wealth grew last year three times faster than the average pace of the previous five years, reaching a record $18.3 trillion, the group said.
At the same time, one in four people worldwide suffer from food insecurity and regularly skip meals, Oxfam said.
“The growing gap between the rich and the rest is at the same time creating a very dangerous and unsustainable policy deficit,” Amitabh Behar, executive director of Oxfam, said in a statement.
Who will be there in 2026?
Organizers are announcing a record attendance of nearly 400 high-profile political leaders, including more than 60 heads of state and government, and nearly 850 presidents and CEOs of many major global companies.
Headlining are US President Donald Trump, who is scheduled to deliver a speech on Wednesday, and several high-level ministers and advisers, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and special envoy Steve Witkoff.
French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, President Ahmad al-Sharaa of Syria, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, President Félix Tshisekedi of Congo, Chinese Deputy Prime Minister He Lifeng and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy are among the who’s who of key participants.
Organizers indicate that 55 ministers of economy and finance, 33 ministers of foreign affairs, 34 ministers of trade and industry and 11 central bank governors are also expected.
Tech titans are expected to be in attendance, including Nvidia’s Jensen Huang. Satya Nadella from Microsoft, Demis Hassabis from Google DeepMind and Arthur Mensch from Mistral AI in France.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and World Trade Organization Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala are among many senior officials at international institutions.
What other issues are at stake?
The geopolitical context has become incredibly complex this year: Trump’s statements and policies on topics as diverse as Venezuela, Greenland and Iran – not to mention his tariff policies – have raised questions about America’s role in the world.
The advent of AI – its promises and its perils – has also become a hot topic. Business leaders will consider how to apply it to increase efficiency and profits; Labor leaders and advocacy groups will warn of its threat to jobs and livelihoods, and policymakers will seek to navigate the best path forward between regulation and the right to innovation.
