The World Economic Forum (WEF) announced Wednesday its annual summit in Switzerland has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The gathering of political, financial, and social elites was due to discuss “the ‘Great Reset’ in the post-COVID-19 era” however this lead agenda item will also be pushed to a place and time yet to be determined.
The next WEF meeting had originally been scheduled for Jan. 25. The summit is typically held every January in the ski resort of Davos, Switzerland, a small town in the Swiss Alps, around 92 miles south-east of Zurich.
The forum said the soonest the 2021 summit could occur is “early next summer.” The move to reschedule comes as the global death toll from coronavirus surpasses 820,000, with the caseload approaching 24m.
“The decision was not taken easily, since the need for global leaders to come together to design a common recovery path and shape the ‘Great Reset’ in the post-COVID-19 era is so urgent,” WEF spokesman Adrian Monck said in a statement.
“However, the advice from experts is that we cannot do so safely in January.”
The Davos meeting has long been seen as a playground for the global elite. In the past it has featured at least 40 heads of state and 2,500 top business executives at any one time, most choosing to fly in by private jet.
The forum’s 50th annual confab seven months ago included appearances by business figures including JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and Hungarian-American philanthropist George Soros.
Former Vice President-turned-carbon billionaire Al Gore and rapper Pharrell Williams have also been notable attendees discussing global warming and recycling respectively.
So too Prince Charles and a host of Hollywood celebrities all charged with a mission to change the world into a shape they recognize and approve of.
Last January Greta Thunberg graced the meeting and took the opportunity to scold everyone else for not responding to her repeated warnings of impending climate catastrophe.
How much does it cost to participate?
The WEF website reveals annual membership (required if you want to buy a ticket to Davos) is upwards of U.S.$60,000, depending on the institution or company’s “level of engagement”.
At the top are the 100 “strategic partner” companies – including Accenture, Barclays, Deloitte, KPMG and Unilever – who pay around U.S.$600,000 for annual membership, which entitles them to buy an access-all-sessions pass for themselves and five colleagues, including special privileges. But they still have to purchase actual tickets to the event.
The WEF, which is run as a not-for-profit organisation, said in its last annual report the Davos meeting generated 13 percent of its $378.5m revenues in 2019, warning a cancellation “could have negative consequences on the foundation’s revenue.”
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