The Davos conference brings together the world’s elites to try to make the world a better place. But according to some current and former employees, the leader of the organizing body behind Davos fosters a toxic workplace. WSJ’s Shalini Ramachandran discusses her investigation into the World Economic Forum and the impact of a recent anonymous whistleblower letter. Annie Minoff hosts. Sign up for WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Hey, it's Jess. Annie Minoff, one of our senior producers, is going to be stepping in to do some hosting this summer while Ryan is out on leave. Enjoy. Every year, a ski resort nestled in the Swiss Alps hosts the world's biggest party for the rich and powerful. Some people call it the Magic Mountain. Most people know it better as Davos.
So Davos is an alpine city in Switzerland. That's our colleague Shalini Ramachandran. It's the site of this annual meeting that brings together the planet's power brokers from like morning to past midnight. Meetings over coffee and cocktails and fondue and there are thousands of CEOs and billionaires.
You'll run into billionaire George Soros. His Majesty, King Abdullah II of Jordan.
queens and kings and presidents who descend on this place.
Send hello to everyone in beautiful Davos.
You know, you can run into Al Gore in the hotel bar or Bill Gates near the metal detectors or Sting in the elevator. And it's about networking and it's about making deals and talking about big ideas.
Over the years, the Davos Conference has taken on big topics. Peace in the Middle East, climate change, gender equality, And they've touted big wins. Organizers have taken credit for major diplomatic breakthroughs, including averting conflict between Greece and Turkey and bringing together the leaders of East and West Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
To improve the state of the world. That was the tagline, you know, to make the world a better place.
But as Shalini discovered, there was a lot more happening behind the scenes. She and our colleagues have been investigating allegations of sexism, racism, and harassment at the organization that runs Davos, an organization called the World Economic Forum.
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