Editing World Economic Forum (section)

==Criticism==
===Physical protests===
[[File:Demo-gegen-wef.jpg|thumb|Protest march against the WEF in [[Basel]], 2006]]

During the late 1990s, the WEF, as well as the [[G7]], [[World Bank]], [[World Trade Organization]], and [[International Monetary Fund]], came under heavy criticism by [[anti-globalization]] activists who asserted that capitalism and globalization were increasing poverty and destroying the environment. In 2000, about 10,000 demonstrators [[S11 (protest)|disrupted a regional WEF meeting]] in [[Melbourne]], by obstructing the path of 200 delegates.<ref>Barret, Bernard (15 November 2000). [http://www.australianpolitics.com/pg/groups/barrett-s11-report-2000.shtml "Beating Up – A Report on Police Batons and the News Media at the World Economic Forum, Melbourne, September 2000"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926220221/http://www.australianpolitics.com/pg/groups/barrett-s11-report-2000.shtml |date=26 September 2011}}. ''[Australian Politics]''. accessed 24 August 2011.</ref> Small demonstrations are held in Davos on most but not all years, organised by the local Green Party (see [[Anti-WEF protests in Switzerland, January 2003]]) to protest against what have been called the meetings of "fat cats in the snow", a [[tongue-in-cheek]] term used by rock singer [[Bono]].<ref>Noon, Chris (21 January 2006). [https://www.forbes.com/facesinthenews/2006/01/26/bono-davos-red-cx_cn_0126autofacescan02.html "Bono Teams Up With Amex, Gap For Product Red"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080908033533/http://www.forbes.com/facesinthenews/2006/01/26/bono-davos-red-cx_cn_0126autofacescan02.html |date=8 September 2008}}. ''[[Forbes]]''. accessed 25 January 2011.</ref>

After 2014, the physical protest movement against the World Economic Forum largely died down, and [[Swiss police]] noted a significant decline in attending protesters, 20 at most during the meeting in 2016. While protesters are still more numerous in large Swiss cities, the protest movement itself has undergone significant change.<ref>C. Thumshirn (2017). [http://www.nzz.ch/wirtschaft/wef-2017/protest-im-wandel-das-wef-ohne-gegner-ld.139155 Warum das WEF keine Demonstranten mehr anlockt] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170117152100/http://www.nzz.ch/wirtschaft/wef-2017/protest-im-wandel-das-wef-ohne-gegner-ld.139155 |date=17 January 2017 }}(in German). Neue Zürcher Zeitung. accessed 17 January 2017.</ref> Around 150 [[Tibetan people|Tibetans]] and [[Uyghurs|Uighurs]] protested in [[Geneva]] and 400 Tibetans in [[Bern]] against the visit of China's [[paramount leader]] [[Xi Jinping]] for the 2017 meeting, with subsequent confrontations and arrests.<ref>[http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/xi-s-visit_tibetans-and-uighurs-protest-in-geneva/42860126 Tibetans and Uighurs protest in Geneva] SWI swissinfo.ch (Politics-Conflict). accessed 22 January 2017 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170120115050/http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/xi-s-visit_tibetans-and-uighurs-protest-in-geneva/42860126 |date=20 January 2017 }}</ref>

===Growing gaps in wealth===
A number of NGOs have used the World Economic Forum to highlight growing inequalities and [[wealth gap]]s, which they consider to have been neglected, or even to be exacerbated, through institutions like the WEF. [[Winnie Byanyima]], the former executive director of the anti-poverty confederation [[Oxfam International]] co-chaired the 2015 meeting, where she presented a critical report of global wealth distribution based on statistical research by the [[Credit Suisse|Credit Suisse Research Institute]]. In this study, the richest 1% of people in the world own 48% of the world's wealth.<ref>Vara, Vauhini (January 2015). [https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/critics-oxfams-poverty-statistics-missing-point Critics of Oxfam's Poverty Statistics Are Missing the Point] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190202164133/https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/critics-oxfams-poverty-statistics-missing-point |date=2 February 2019 }}. ''The New Yorker''. accessed 27 January 2019.</ref> At the 2019 meeting, she presented another report in which she stated  that the gap between rich and poor has widened. The report "Public Good or Private Wealth" stated that 2,200 billionaires worldwide saw their wealth grow by 12% while the poorest half saw its wealth fall by 11%. Oxfam calls for a global tax overhaul to increase and harmonise global tax rates for corporations and wealthy individuals.<ref>{{cite web |last=Taylor |first=Chloe |date=January 2019 |url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/1/22/18192774/oxfam-inequality-report-2019-davos-wealth |title=Richest 26 people now own same wealth as poorest half of the world, Oxfam claims |work=cnbc.com |access-date=27 January 2019}}</ref>

"[[You'll own nothing and be happy]]" is a phrase adapted from an essay written by [[Ida Auken]] in 2016 for the WEF, pondering a future in which urban residents would rely on shared services for many expensive items such as appliances and vehicles. Shortly after its publication, a commentator for [[European Digital Rights]] criticized Auken's vision of centralized property ownership as a "[[benevolent dictatorship]]".<ref name="edri-2017">{{cite web |last1=McNamee |first1=Joe |title=ENDitorial: Happiness – owning nothing and having no privacy? |url=https://edri.org/our-work/enditorial-happiness-owning-nothing-no-privacy/ |website=European Digital Rights (EDRi) |access-date=11 August 2023 |archive-date=29 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529180548/https://edri.org/our-work/enditorial-happiness-owning-nothing-no-privacy/ |url-status=live }}</ref> During the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], the phrase went viral, eliciting strongly negative reactions from mostly conservative but also some left-wing and unaffiliated commentators.<ref name="bronitsky">{{cite news |last1=Bronitsky |first1=Jonathan |title=Global Elites: 'No Money, No Problems' |url=https://www.newsweek.com/global-elites-no-money-no-problems-opinion-1755651 |access-date=March 19, 2023 |work=Newsweek |date=November 1, 2022 |language=en |archive-date=11 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811021553/https://www.newsweek.com/global-elites-no-money-no-problems-opinion-1755651 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="nationalreview-2023">{{cite news |last1=Geraghty |first1=Jim |title=Davos Elites Try to Save the World while Ignoring Actual Threats |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/the-morning-jolt/davos-elites-try-to-save-the-world-while-ignoring-actual-threats/ |access-date=March 19, 2023 |work=National Review |date=January 17, 2023 |archive-date=2 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230802103936/https://www.nationalreview.com/the-morning-jolt/davos-elites-try-to-save-the-world-while-ignoring-actual-threats/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Responding to viral social media posts based on the phrase, the WEF denied that it had a goal related to limiting ownership of private property.<ref name="reuters-factcheck">{{cite news |title=Fact check: The World Economic Forum does not have a stated goal to have people own nothing by 2030 |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-wef-idUSKBN2AP2T0 |access-date=March 19, 2023 |work=Reuters |date=February 25, 2021 |language=en |archive-date=25 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525140854/https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-wef-idUSKBN2AP2T0 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Rutger Bregman]], a Dutch historian invited to a 2018 WEF panel on inequality, went viral when he suggested that the best way for the attendees to attack inequality was to stop avoiding taxes.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2019-01-30 |title='This is not rocket science': Rutger Bregman tells Davos to talk about tax – video |language=en-GB |work=the Guardian |url=http://www.theguardian.com/business/video/2019/jan/30/this-is-not-rocket-science-rutger-bregman-tells-davos-to-talk-about-tax-video |access-date=2023-08-13 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=23 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623143504/https://www.theguardian.com/business/video/2019/jan/30/this-is-not-rocket-science-rutger-bregman-tells-davos-to-talk-about-tax-video |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Elliott |first=Larry |last2= |first2= |date=2019-02-01 |title='This is about saving capitalism': the Dutch historian who savaged Davos elite |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/feb/01/rutger-bregman-world-economic-forum-davos-speech-tax-billionaires-capitalism |access-date=2023-08-13 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=13 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813221814/https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/feb/01/rutger-bregman-world-economic-forum-davos-speech-tax-billionaires-capitalism |url-status=live }}</ref> Bregman described his motivation, saying "it feels like I’m at a firefighters’ conference and no one’s allowed to speak about water".

===Formation of a detached elite===
{{Main|Global elite}}
{{Anchor|Davos Man|"Davos Man"}}
The formation of a detached elite, sometimes labeled with the [[neologism]] "Davos Man", refers to a global group whose members view themselves as completely "international". The term refers to people who "have little need for national loyalty, view national boundaries as obstacles, and see national governments as residues from the past whose only useful function is to facilitate the elite's global operations" according to political scientist [[Samuel P. Huntington]], who is credited with inventing the neologism.<ref>Timothy Garton Ash. [https://www.theguardian.com/comment/story/0,,1404411,00.html Davos man's death wish] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821094256/http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0%2C%2C1404411%2C00.html |date=21 August 2008}}, ''[[The Guardian]]'', 3 February 2005</ref> In his 2004 article "Dead Souls: The Denationalization of the American Elite", Huntington argues that this international perspective is a minority elitist position not shared by the nationalist majority of the people.<ref>Samuel Huntington. [http://nationalinterest.org/article/dead-souls-the-denationalization-of-the-american-elite-620 "Dead Souls: The Denationalization of the American Elite"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160914184047/http://nationalinterest.org/article/dead-souls-the-denationalization-of-the-american-elite-620 |date=14 September 2016}}, ''[[The National Interest]]'', Spring 2004</ref> 

The [[Transnational Institute]] describes the World Economic Forum's main purpose as being "to function as a socializing institution for the emerging global elite, globalization's "Mafiocracy" of bankers, industrialists, oligarchs, technocrats and politicians. They promote common ideas, and serve common interests: their own."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Marshall |first1=Andrew |title=World Economic Forum: A History and Analysis |url=https://www.tni.org/en/article/world-economic-forum-a-history-and-analysis |website=The Transnational Institute |date=20 January 2015 |access-date=9 August 2021 |archive-date=9 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210809055744/https://www.tni.org/en/article/world-economic-forum-a-history-and-analysis |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2019, the ''[[Manager Magazin]]'' journalist Henrik Müller argued that the "Davos Man" had already decayed into different groups and camps. He saw three central drivers for this development:<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=https://www.manager-magazin.de/politik/weltwirtschaft/wef-in-davos-weltwirtschaftsforum-und-seine-probleme-a-1248970.html&prev=search|title="Davos Man" and his successors|first=Henrik|last=Müller|date=21 January 2019 |access-date=14 June 2020|archive-date=14 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614163618/https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=https://www.manager-magazin.de/politik/weltwirtschaft/wef-in-davos-weltwirtschaftsforum-und-seine-probleme-a-1248970.html&prev=search|url-status=live}}</ref>
* Ideologically: the liberal western model was no longer considered a universal role model that other countries strive for (with China's digital totalitarianism or the traditional absolutism in the Persian Gulf as counter-proposals, all of which ware represented by government members in Davos).
* Socially: societies increasingly disintegrated into different groups, each of which evoked its own identity (e.g. embodied through the Brexit vote or congressional blockades in the USA).
* Economically: the measured economic reality largely contradicted the established ideas of how the economy should actually work (despite economic upswings, wages and prices e.g. barely rose).

===Public cost of security===
[[File:Civil Defense Police (8419542894).jpg|thumb|right|The Graubünden Civil Defense Police during the 2013 Annual Meeting in Davos]]
Critics argue that the WEF, despite having reserves of several hundred million Swiss francs and paying its executives salaries of around 1 million Swiss francs per year, would not pay any federal tax and moreover allocate a part of its costs to the public.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.srf.ch/news/schweiz/geld-fuer-sicherheit-am-wef-knurrende-zustimmung-vom-staenderat-zu-wef-geldern|title=Geld für Sicherheit am WEF – Knurrende Zustimmung vom Ständerat zu WEF-Geldern|date=11 June 2021|website=Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF)|access-date=13 July 2021|archive-date=13 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210713084558/https://www.srf.ch/news/schweiz/geld-fuer-sicherheit-am-wef-knurrende-zustimmung-vom-staenderat-zu-wef-geldern|url-status=live}}</ref> Following massive criticism from politicians and Swiss civil society, the Swiss federal government decided in February 2021 to reduce its annual contributions to the WEF.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bundesrat streicht dem WEF Geld |trans-title=Federal Council cancels WEF funding |url=https://www.suedostschweiz.ch/politik/2021-02-24/bundesrat-streicht-dem-wef-geld |work=[[Die Südostschweiz]] |agency=[[Swiss Telegraphic Agency|sda]] |date=24 February 2021 |language=de |access-date=12 July 2021 |archive-date=12 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210712121842/https://www.suedostschweiz.ch/politik/2021-02-24/bundesrat-streicht-dem-wef-geld |url-status=live }}</ref>

As of 2018, the police and military expenditures carried by the federal government stood at 39 million Swiss francs.<ref>[https://www.srf.ch/news/schweiz/abstimmungen/abstimmungen/abstimmungen-davos/davos-stimmt-ab-mehr-geld-fuer-das-wef Davos stimmt ab – Mehr Geld für das WEF](in German) SRF.ch. accessed 23 January 2019 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123223146/https://www.srf.ch/news/schweiz/abstimmungen/abstimmungen/abstimmungen-davos/davos-stimmt-ab-mehr-geld-fuer-das-wef |date=23 January 2019 }}</ref> The ''[[Aargauer Zeitung]]'' argued in January 2020 that the additional cost borne by the Kanton Graubünden stands at CHF 9 million per year.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aargauerzeitung.ch%2Fschweiz%2Fdas-reiche-wef-waelzt-kosten-fuer-die-sicherheit-auf-bund-und-kantone-ab-das-stoesst-auf-kritik-136222933&prev=search|title=Das reiche WEF wälzt Kosten für die Sicherheit auf Bund und Kantone ab – das stösst auf Kritik|first=Lucien|last=Fluri|access-date=14 June 2020|archive-date=14 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614164950/https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&tl=en&u=https://www.aargauerzeitung.ch/schweiz/das-reiche-wef-waelzt-kosten-fuer-die-sicherheit-auf-bund-und-kantone-ab-das-stoesst-auf-kritik-136222933&prev=search|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Swiss Green Party summarised their criticism within the Swiss National Council that the holding of the World Economic Forum has cost Swiss taxpayers hundreds of millions of Swiss francs over the past decades. In their view, it was however questionable to what extent the Swiss population or global community benefit from these expenditures.<ref name="Geschäft Ansehen">{{Cite web|url=https://www.parlament.ch/de/ratsbetrieb/suche-curia-vista/geschaeft?AffairId=20203289|title=20.3289 {{!}} Was nützt das WEF der Schweizer Bevölkerung?|website=Das Schweizer Parlament|language=de|access-date=25 July 2021|archive-date=25 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725104724/https://www.parlament.ch/de/ratsbetrieb/suche-curia-vista/geschaeft?AffairId=20203289|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Gender debate===
{{further|Gender bias}}
Women have been broadly underrepresented at the WEF, according to some critics. The female participation rate at the WEF increased from 9% to 15% between 2001 and 2005. In 2016, 18% of the WEF attendees were female; this number increased to 21% in 2017, and 24% in 2020.<ref>A. Gibbs (2017). [https://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/16/as-world-leaders-descend-upon-wef-2017-in-davos-the-gender-debate-rumbles-on.html As world leaders descend upon Davos, the gender debate rumbles on] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020170507/https://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/16/as-world-leaders-descend-upon-wef-2017-in-davos-the-gender-debate-rumbles-on.html |date=20 October 2017 }} CNBC News. accessed 17 January 2017.</ref><ref>A. Gibbs (2017). [https://qz.com/1529366/the-percentage-of-women-at-davos-is-greater-than-ever-before/ The percentage of women at Davos is greater than ever before] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190823223152/https://qz.com/1529366/the-percentage-of-women-at-davos-is-greater-than-ever-before/ |date=23 August 2019 }} Quartz. accessed 19 November 2019.</ref>

Several women have since shared their personal impressions of the Davos meetings in media articles, highlighting that issues were more profound than "a quota at Davos for female leaders or a session on diversity and inclusion".<ref>{{cite web |website=BuzzFeed News |access-date=19 May 2020 |title=What It's Like To Be A Woman At The Old Boys Economic Forum |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/mariahsummers/what-its-like-to-be-a-woman-at-the-old-boys-economic-forum |first1=Mariah |last1=Summers |first2=Miriam |last2=Elder |date=26 January 2014 |archive-date=9 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809091340/https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/mariahsummers/what-its-like-to-be-a-woman-at-the-old-boys-economic-forum |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title='Horizontal trade' looks to upswing at Davos meet |last=Curtis |first=Malcom |website=The Local |access-date=19 May 2020 |url=https://www.thelocal.ch/20140121/horizontal-trade-looks-to-upswing-at-davos |date=21 January 2014 |archive-date=15 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615144255/https://www.thelocal.ch/20140121/horizontal-trade-looks-to-upswing-at-davos |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Davos: Impressions of a First-Time Attendee | website = The Journal Blog | access-date = 19 May 2020 | url = https://blog.usejournal.com/davos-283f7fe42c07 | first = Baillie | last = Aaron | date = 22 February 2019 | archive-date = 30 November 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231130124258/https://baillieaaron.medium.com/davos-283f7fe42c07 | url-status = live }}</ref> The World Economic Forum has in this context filed legal complaints against at least three investigative articles by reporters Katie Gibbons and Billy Kenber that were published by the British newspaper ''[[The Times]]'' in March 2020, with the articles still online as of January 2024.<ref>{{Cite news | url = https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/economics/article/dark-side-of-davos-den-of-prostitution-and-predators-c77qwzd0j | title = The dark side of Davos: A den of prostitution and predators | website = The Times | last1 = Kenber | first1 = Billy | last2 = Gibbons | first2 = Katie | date = 23 March 2020 | access-date = 6 May 2022 | archive-date = 26 May 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220526093309/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/dark-side-of-davos-den-of-prostitution-and-predators-c77qwzd0j | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news | url = https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/sex-relationships/article/davos-investigation-at-parties-and-events-men-tried-to-get-sex-m8w5fck89 | title = Davos investigation: At parties and events, men tried to get sex | last1 = Gibbons | first1 = Katie | last2 = Kenber | first2 = Billy | date = 23 March 2020 | access-date = 6 May 2022 | website = The Times | archive-date = 24 May 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220524095656/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/davos-investigation-at-parties-and-events-men-tried-to-get-sex-m8w5fck89 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news | website = The Times | url = https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/economics/article/businessman-left-davos-party-deciding-no-good-could-come-of-this-083s9hsnv | title = Davos investigation: Champagne flowed and music played as women greeted guests | last1 = Kenber | first1 = Billy | last2 = Gibbons | first2 = Katie | date = 24 March 2020 | access-date = 6 May 2022 | archive-date = 30 December 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211230161613/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/businessman-left-davos-party-deciding-no-good-could-come-of-this-083s9hsnv | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/economics/article/client-offered-me-prostitutes-at-davos-party-says-consultant-8n8k269m5|title=Client offered me prostitutes at Davos party, says consultant|first1=Billy|last1=Kenber|first2=Katie|last2=Gibbons|work=[[The Times]]|date=23 March 2020|access-date=6 May 2022|archive-date=25 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525075651/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/client-offered-me-prostitutes-at-davos-party-says-consultant-8n8k269m5|url-status=live}}</ref>
===Workplace discrimination===
According to ''The Wall Street Journal'', the WEF has had numerous accusations of workplace discrimination against women and [[Black people]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=June 29, 2024|title=Behind Davos, Claims of a Toxic Workplace|first1=Shalini|last1=Ramachandran|first2=Khadeeja|last2=Safdar|access-date=June 29, 2024|website=The Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/business/world-economic-forum-klaus-schwab-discrimination-harassment-de285594?mod=mhp}}</ref>

===Undemocratic decision making===
According to the [[European Parliamentary Research Service|European Parliament's think tank]], critics see the WEF as an instrument for political and business leaders to "take decisions without having to account to their electorate or shareholders".<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document.html?reference=EPRS_BRI(2016)573928 | title = The World Economic Forum: Influential and controversial | publisher = European Parliament Think Tank | date = 19 January 2016 | access-date = 19 May 2020 | archive-date = 21 October 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201021005028/https://europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document.html?reference=EPRS_BRI(2016)573928 | url-status = live }}</ref>

Since 2009, the WEF has been working on a project called the Global Redesign Initiative (GRI), which proposes a transition away from intergovernmental decision-making towards a system of [[multi-stakeholder governance]]. According to the [[Transnational Institute|Transnational Institute (TNI)]], the Forum is hence planning to replace a recognised democratic model with a model where a self-selected group of "stakeholders" make decisions on behalf of the people.<ref name="Davos and its danger to Democracy">{{cite web | url = https://www.tni.org/en/article/davos-and-its-danger-to-democracy | title = Davos and its danger to Democracy | publisher = Transnational Institute | date = 18 January 2016 | access-date = 17 August 2021 | archive-date = 17 August 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210817095449/https://www.tni.org/en/article/davos-and-its-danger-to-democracy | url-status = live }}</ref>

Some critics have seen the WEF's attention to goals like [[environmental protection]] and [[social entrepreneurship]] as mere window dressing to disguise its true [[plutocracy|plutocratic]] nature and goals.<ref name="Meyer">{{Cite web |last=Meyer |first=Frank A. |date=26 May 2021 |url=https://www.cicero.de/wirtschaft/meinungsherrschaft-ziemlich-verstiegen |title=Meinungsherrschaft – Ziemlich verstiegen |website=Cicero Online |language=de |access-date=12 August 2021 |archive-date=12 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812143340/https://www.cicero.de/wirtschaft/meinungsherrschaft-ziemlich-verstiegen |url-status=live }}</ref> In a ''[[The Guardian|Guardian]]'' opinion piece, Cas Mudde said that such plutocrats should not be the group to have control over the political agendas and decide which issues to focus on and how to support them.<ref name="-Mudde">{{cite web |last=Mudde |first=Cas |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/25/davos-world-economic-forum-capitalism-plutocracy |title=The high priests of plutocracy all meet at Davos. What good can come from that? |website=[[The Guardian]] |date=25 January 2020 |access-date=24 September 2021 |archive-date=24 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924150239/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/25/davos-world-economic-forum-capitalism-plutocracy |url-status=live }}</ref> A writer in the German magazine ''[[Cicero (magazine)|Cicero]]'' saw the situation as academic, cultural, media and economic elites grasping for social power while disregarding political decision processes. A materially well-endowed milieu would in this context try to "cement its dominance of opinion and sedate ordinary people with maternalistic-paternalistic social benefits, so that they are not disturbed by the common people when they steer".<ref name="Meyer"/> The French ''[[Les Echos (France)|Les Echos]]'' furthermore concludes that Davos "represents the exact values people rejected at the ballot box".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lesechos.fr/2017/01/davos-un-forum-remis-en-question-159369|title=Davos : un forum remis en question ?|date=18 January 2017|website=Les Echos|language=fr|access-date=15 August 2021|archive-date=15 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815091055/https://www.lesechos.fr/2017/01/davos-un-forum-remis-en-question-159369|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Lack of financial transparency ===
{{further|Financial transparency}}
In 2017, the former ''[[Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung]]'' journalist Jürgen Dunsch criticized that financial reports of the WEF were not very transparent since neither income nor expenditures were broken down. In addition, he outlined that the foundation capital was not quantified while the apparently not insignificant profits would be reinvested.<ref name="SZ-money machine">{{cite news |last=Busse |first=Caspar |title=Das Weltwirtschaftsforum ist zu einer Geldmaschine geworden |trans-title=The World Economic Forum has become a money machine |url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/davos-das-weltwirtschaftsforum-ist-zu-einer-geldmaschine-geworden-1.3334817 |work=[[Süddeutsche Zeitung]] |date=17 January 2017 |language=de |access-date=20 May 2020 |archive-date=5 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805111333/https://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/davos-das-weltwirtschaftsforum-ist-zu-einer-geldmaschine-geworden-1.3334817 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Recent annual reports published by the WEF include a more detailed breakdown of its financials and indicate revenues of CHF 349 million for the year 2019 with reserves of CHF 310 million and a foundation capital of CHF 34 million. There are no further details provided to what asset classes or individual names the WEF allocates its financial assets of CHF 261 million.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Annual_Report_18-19.pdf |title=Annual Report 2018–2019 |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=2019 |access-date=9 July 2021 |archive-date=14 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210514173922/https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Annual_Report_18-19.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> From July 2019 to June 2020, the World Economic Forum has spent €250,000 on lobbying the [[European Union]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=World Economic Forum {{!}} lobbyfacts |url=https://www.lobbyfacts.eu/datacard/world-economic-forum?rid=567538843366-43&sid=142243 |access-date=2024-06-22 |website=www.lobbyfacts.eu}}</ref>

The German newspaper ''[[Süddeutsche Zeitung]]'' criticised in this context that the WEF had turned into a "money printing machine", which is run like a family business and forms a comfortable way to make a living for its key personnel. The foundation's founder Klaus Schwab draws a salary of around one million Swiss francs per year.<ref name="SZ-money machine" />

=== Unclear selection criteria ===

In a request to the [[National Council (Switzerland)|Swiss National Council]], the [[Swiss Green Party]] criticised that invitations to the annual meeting and programmes of the World Economic Forum are issued according to unclear criteria. They highlight that "despots" such as the son of the former Libyan dictator [[Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi]] had been invited to the WEF and even awarded membership in the club of "Young Global Leaders".<ref name="Geschäft Ansehen"/> Even after the beginning of the [[Arab spring]] in December 2010 and related violent uprisings against despot regimes, the WEF continued to invite Gaddafi to its annual meeting.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/gaddafi-s-son-to-get-wef-invitation/29133964|title=Gaddafi's son to get WEF invitation|date=29 December 2010 |access-date=1 August 2021|archive-date=1 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210801114449/https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/gaddafi-s-son-to-get-wef-invitation/29133964|url-status=live|author-first1=Julia|author-last1=Slater}}</ref>

=== Environmental footprint of annual meetings ===
Critics emphasise that the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum is counterproductive when combating pressing problems of humanity such as the climate crisis. Even in 2020, participants travelled to the WEF annual meeting in Davos on around 1,300 private jets while the total emissions burden from transport and accommodation were enormous in their view.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/24/billionaires-davos-climate-crisis-world-economic-forum|title=We can't trust the billionaires of Davos to solve a climate crisis they created &#124; Payal Parekh|website=[[TheGuardian.com]]|date=24 January 2020|access-date=25 July 2021|archive-date=25 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725105938/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/24/billionaires-davos-climate-crisis-world-economic-forum|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Geschäft Ansehen"/>

=== Corporate capture of global and democratic institutions ===
The World Economic Forum's "Global Redesign" report suggests to create "public-private" [[United Nations]] (UN) in which selected agencies operate and steer global agendas under shared governance systems.<ref name="Martens">{{cite book |last=Martens |first=Jens |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-30469-0_12 |title=Sustainable Development Goals and Human Rights. Interdisciplinary Studies in Human Rights |chapter=The Role of Public and Private Actors and Means in Implementing the SDGs: Reclaiming the Public Policy Space for Sustainable Development and Human Rights |editor-last1=Kaltenborn |editor-first1=M. |editor-last2=Krajewski |editor-first2=M. |editor-last3=Kuhn |editor-first3=H. |publisher=Springer |location=Cham |year=2020 |volume=5 |pages=207–220 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-30469-0_12 |isbn=978-3-030-30468-3 |s2cid=213580432 |access-date=17 August 2021 |archive-date=17 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817101705/https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-30469-0_12 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In September 2019, more than 400 civil society organizations and 40 international networks heavily criticised a partnership agreement between WEF and the United Nations and called on the [[UN Secretary-General|UN secretary-general]] to end it.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cognitoforms.com/MultistakeholderismActionGroup/CorporateCaptureOfGlobalGovernanceTheWorldEconomicForumWEFUNPartnershipAgreementIsADangerousThreatToUN|title=Corporate capture of global governance: The World Economic Forum (WEF)-UN partnership agreement is a dangerous threat to UN System|website=www.cognitoforms.com|access-date=14 August 2021|archive-date=22 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210822032237/https://www.cognitoforms.com/MultistakeholderismActionGroup/CorporateCaptureOfGlobalGovernanceTheWorldEconomicForumWEFUNPartnershipAgreementIsADangerousThreatToUN|url-status=live}}</ref> They see such an agreement as a "disturbing corporate capture of the UN, which moved the world dangerously towards a privatised global governance".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://fian.org/en/press-release/article/wef-takeover-of-un-strongly-condemned-2273|title=WEF takeover of UN strongly condemned|website=fian.org|date=16 January 2020 |access-date=15 August 2021|archive-date=15 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815154607/https://fian.org/en/press-release/article/wef-takeover-of-un-strongly-condemned-2273|url-status=live}}</ref> The Dutch Transnational Institute think tank summarises that we are increasingly entering a world where gatherings such as Davos are "a silent global [[coup d'état]]" to capture governance.<ref name="Davos and its danger to Democracy"/>

=== Non-accreditation of critical media outlets ===
In 2019, the Swiss newspaper ''[[WOZ Die Wochenzeitung|WOZ]]'' received a refusal of its accreditation request for the annual meeting with the editors and subsequently accused the World Economic Forum of favoring specific media outlets. The newspaper highlighted that the WEF stated in its refusal message that it [the forum] prefers media outlets it works with throughout the year. ''WOZ'' deputy head Yves Wegelin called this a strange idea of journalism because in "journalism you don't necessarily have to work with large corporations, but rather critique them".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/weltwirtschaftsforum-in-davos-keine-akkreditierung-fuer.2907.de.html?dram:article_id=463879 |title=Weltwirtschaftsforum in Davos – Keine Akkreditierung für kritische Wochenzeitung |website=Deutschlandfunk} |date=20 November 2019 |language=de}}</ref>

=== Institutional initiatives ===
In addition to economic policy, the WEF's agenda is in recent years increasingly focusing on positively connoted activist topics such as [[environmental protection]]<ref name="World Economic Forum"/> and [[social entrepreneurship]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship – Home|website=Schwabfound.org|publisher=|url=http://www.schwabfound.org/|format=|access-date=|last=|date=|year=|language=|pages=|quote=|archive-date=4 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190504005120/http://www.schwabfound.org/|url-status=live}}</ref> which critics see as a strategy to disguise the organisation's true [[plutocracy|plutocratic]] goals.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/25/davos-world-economic-forum-capitalism-plutocracy | title = The high priests of plutocracy all meet in Davos. What good can come from that? |author-first1=Cas|author-last1=Mudde| work = The Guardian | date = 25 January 2020 | access-date = 24 September 2021 | archive-date = 24 September 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210924150239/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/25/davos-world-economic-forum-capitalism-plutocracy | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{citation|surname1=Steven Umbrello|periodical=The Journal of Value Inquiry|title=Should We Reset? Eine Rezension von Klaus Schwab und Thierry Mallerets 'COVID-19: The Great Reset' |at=pp.&nbsp;1–8|issn=1573-0492|pmc=7886645|date=17 February 2021|volume=56 |issue=4 |language=German|doi=10.1007/s10790-021-09794-1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cicero.de/wirtschaft/meinungsherrschaft-ziemlich-verstiegen|title=Dominion of Opinion - Quite Degenerate|website=Cicero Online|language=en|access-date=12 August 2021|archive-date=12 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812143340/https://www.cicero.de/wirtschaft/meinungsherrschaft-ziemlich-verstiegen|url-status=live}}</ref>

In a December 2020 article by ''[[The Intercept]]'', author [[Naomi Klein]] described that the WEF's initiatives like the "Great Reset" were simply a "coronavirus-themed rebranding" of things that the WEF was already doing and that it was an attempt by the rich to make themselves look good. In her opinion, "the Great Reset is merely the latest edition of this gilded tradition, barely distinguishable from earlier Davos Big Ideas.<ref name="intercept120820">{{cite news |last1=Klein |first1=Naomi |title=The Great Reset Conspiracy Smoothie |url=https://theintercept.com/2020/12/08/great-reset-conspiracy/ |access-date=14 December 2020 |work=The Intercept |date=8 December 2020 |archive-date=13 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201213162038/https://theintercept.com/2020/12/08/great-reset-conspiracy/ |url-status=live|quote=Writing about 'The Great Reset' is not easy. It has turned into a viral conspiracy theory purporting to expose something no one ever attempted to hide, most of which is not really happening anyway, some of which actually should.}}</ref>

Similarly, in his review of ''COVID-19: The Great Reset'', ethicist Steven Umbrello makes parallel critiques of the agenda. He says that the WEF "whitewash[es] a seemingly optimistic future post-Great Reset with buzz words like equity and sustainability" while it functionally jeopardizes those goals.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Umbrello|first=Steven|date=17 February 2021|title=Should We Reset? A Review of Klaus Schwab and Thierry Malleret's 'COVID-19: The Great Reset'|url= |journal=The Journal of Value Inquiry|volume=56 |issue=4 |pages=693–700|language=en|doi=10.1007/s10790-021-09794-1|issn=1573-0492|pmc=7886645}}</ref>

A study published in the [[Journal of Consumer Research]] investigated the sociological impact of the WEF. It concluded that the WEF do not solve issues such as poverty, global warming, chronic illness, or debt. The Forum has, according to the study, simply shifted the burden for the solution of these problems from governments and business to "responsible consumers subjects: the green consumer, the health-conscious consumer, and the financially literate consumer."<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/677842 |title=Creating the Responsible Consumer: Moralistic Governance Regimes and Consumer Subjectivity |date=28 August 2021 |work=Blick |doi=10.1086/677842 |jstor=10.1086/677842 |language=en |last1=Giesler |first1=Markus |last2=Veresiu |first2=Ela |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=840–857 |access-date=28 August 2021 |archive-date=28 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828083124/https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/677842 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Appropriation of global crises ===
In December 2021, the Catholic Cardinal and former [[Prefect]] of the [[Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith]] (CDF) [[Gerhard Ludwig Müller]] criticised in a controversial interview that people like WEF founder Schwab were sitting "on the throne of their wealth" and were not touched by the everyday difficulties and sufferings people face e.g. due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the contrary, such elites would see crises as an opportunity to push through their agendas. He particularly criticised the control such people would exercise on people and their embracement of areas such as [[transhumanism]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Vatican Court judge criticizes Bill Gates, George Soros and Klaus Schwab for using Covid to impose 'total control' on population|periodical=The Rio Times|publisher=|url=https://www.riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/modern-day-censorship/vatican-court-judge-criticizes-bill-gates-george-soros-and-klaus-schwab-for-using-covid-to-impose-total-control-on-population/|format=|access-date=|last=The Rio Times|date=2021-12-14|language=en-US|pages=|quote=|archive-date=21 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211221040114/https://www.riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/modern-day-censorship/vatican-court-judge-criticizes-bill-gates-george-soros-and-klaus-schwab-for-using-covid-to-impose-total-control-on-population/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.oberhessische-zeitung.de/politik/ausland/kardinal-muller-und-die-verschworungsmythen_24989665 |title=Cardinal Müller and the conspiracy myths |date=13 December 2021 |language=en |access-date=19 December 2021 |archive-date=19 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211219150400/https://www.oberhessische-zeitung.de/politik/ausland/kardinal-muller-und-die-verschworungsmythen_24989665 |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Central Council of Jews in Germany|German Central Council of Jews]] condemned this criticism, which is also linked to Jewish financial investors, as antisemitic.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jansen |first=Thomas |title=Zentralrat der Juden wirft Kardinal Müller 'antisemitische Chiffren' vor |trans-title=Statement on Corona pandemic: Central Council of Jews accuses Cardinal Müller of "anti-Semitic ciphers" |newspaper=Faz.net |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/zentralrat-der-juden-kardinal-mueller-bedient-antisemitische-chiffren-17684690.html |access-date=19 December 2021 |language=de |archive-date=16 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216012643/https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/zentralrat-der-juden-kardinal-mueller-bedient-antisemitische-chiffren-17684690.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

On the other hand, the WEF has been criticized as "hypocritical" towards Palestinian human rights, when it rejected a petition from its own constituents to condemn Israel's aggression against Palestinians.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jamal |first1=Hebh |date=19 January 2023 |title=Ukraine a 'special case': Is the WEF 'hypocritical' on Palestine? |publisher=Al Jazeera English |agency=Al Jazeera English |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/19/ukraine-a-special-case-emails-show-wef-palestine-hypocrisy |url-status=live |access-date=19 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119063541/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/19/ukraine-a-special-case-emails-show-wef-palestine-hypocrisy |archive-date=19 January 2023}}</ref> WEF cited the need to remain "impartial" on the issue. However, [[Khaled Al Sabawi]], writing in [[MondoWeiss]] called it hypocritical after it voluntarily condemned Russia's aggression against Ukraine months later.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-03-01 |title=The World Economic Forum has outed itself as anti-Palestinian |url=https://mondoweiss.net/2023/03/the-world-economic-forum-has-outed-itself-as-anti-palestinian/ |access-date=2023-09-13 |website=Mondoweiss |language=en-US |archive-date=31 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231031151008/https://mondoweiss.net/2023/03/the-world-economic-forum-has-outed-itself-as-anti-palestinian/ |url-status=live }}</ref>