Editing Bilderberg Meeting

{{short description|Annual private conference}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}}
{{Infobox organization
| name                     = Bilderberg meeting
| image                    = Bilderberg - Oosterbeek.jpg
| caption                  = Bilderberg Hotel in the [[Netherlands]], [[eponym]]ous location of the first conference in 1954 {{coord|51.9898|N|5.8176|E}}
| formation                = {{Start date and age|df=yes|1954|05|29}}
| extinction               = 
| leader_title             = Co-Chair of the Steering Committee
| leader_name              = [[Marie-Josée Kravis]]
| size                     = 250px
| membership               = c. 150 invited, smaller core group
| website                  = {{URL|https://bilderbergmeetings.org/}}
}}

The '''Bilderberg Meeting''' (also known as the "'''Bilderberg Group'''", "'''Bilderberg Conference'''" or "'''Bilderberg Club'''") is an annual off-the-record forum established in 1954 to foster dialogue between [[Europe]] and [[North America]]. The group's agenda, originally to prevent another [[world war]], is now defined as bolstering a consensus around [[free market]] Western [[capitalism]] and its interests around the globe. Participants include [[political leaders]], [[experts]], captains of [[Private industry|industry]], [[finance]], [[academia]], numbering between 120 and 150. Attenders are entitled to use information gained at meetings, but not attribute it to a named speaker (known as the [[Chatham House Rule]]). The group states that the purpose of this is to encourage candid debate while at the same time maintaining privacy, but critics from a wide range of viewpoints have called it into question, and it has provoked [[Conspiracy theory|conspiracy theories]] from both the [[Left-wing politics|left]] and [[Right-wing politics|right]].

Meetings were chaired by [[Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld|Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands]] until 1975. The current Chairman is French businessman [[Henri de Castries]]. Since 1954, the meeting has taken place every year except in 1976, when it was cancelled due to the [[Lockheed bribery scandals]] involving Prince Bernhard,<ref>{{Cite news |date=1976-03-06 |title=U.S. to Urge Pact in U.N. to Combat Business Bribes |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/03/06/archives/us-to-urge-pact-in-un-to-combat-corporate-bribes-promise-is-made-to.html |access-date=2022-06-08 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and in 2020 and 2021 due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref name="Skelton 2022">{{cite web | last=Skelton | first=Charlie | title=Bilderberg reconvenes in person after two-year pandemic gap | website=the Guardian | date=June 4, 2022 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/04/bilderberg-reconvenes-in-person-after-two-year-pandemic-gap | access-date=April 26, 2023}}</ref> The 70th Bilderberg Meeting took place from May 30th to June 2nd 2024 in [[Madrid]], [[Spain]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Homepage |url=https://www.bilderbergmeetings.org |access-date=2025-03-08 |website=www.bilderbergmeetings.org}}</ref>

== Origin ==
{{main|1954 Bilderberg Conference}}

The first conference holds its name from the location where it was first held from the 29th to the 31st of May 1954; the Bilderberg Hotel (Hotel De Bilderberg) in [[Oosterbeek]], [[Netherlands]].<ref name="AtlasObscura">''Atlas Obscura'', "[https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/hotel-de-bilderberg Hotel de Bilderberg]"</ref><ref name="BBC News Magazine 2011">{{cite news|work=[[BBC News]]|title=Bilderberg mystery: Why do people believe in cabals?|date=7 June 2011|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-13682082|access-date=14 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610015521/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-13682082|archive-date=10 June 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> The hotel also gave its name to the attenders of the conference, the "Bilderbergers". The hotel is situated in a quiet location, approximately 7 kilometers west of the city of [[Arnhem]].<ref name="Gijswijt">Gijswijt, Thomas, W.,
''[https://books.google.com/books?id=EGFoDwAAQBAJ Informal Alliance: The Bilderberg Group and Transatlantic Relations during the Cold War, 1952–1968]'' (2018), Routledge. "The Hotel de Bilderberg was a medium-sized family-run hotel, chosen mainly for its quiet and remote location in the forests of the eastern Netherlands. It was not a particularly fancy hotel...but security was relatively easy to maintain since there was only one access road."</ref> It is owned and operated by the Bilderberg hotel chain, which runs 12 hotels and an event location in the Netherlands and one hotel in [[Germany]].<ref>[http://www.bilderberg.nl/uk/hotels/ Bilderberg hotels]</ref> At the time of the 1954 conference, it was a medium-sized family-run hotel.<ref name="Gijswijt"/>

The conference was initiated by several people, including [[Polish people|Polish]] politician-in-exile [[Józef Retinger]] who, concerned about the growth of [[anti-Americanism]] in Western Europe, proposed an international conference at which leaders from European countries and the United States would be brought together with the aim of promoting [[Atlanticism]]—better understanding between the cultures of the United States and [[Western Europe]] to foster cooperation on political, economic, and defense issues.<ref name="something">{{cite web|url=https://bilderbergmeetings.org/index.html|title=About Bilderberg Meetings|website=Bilderberg Meetings the Official Website|access-date=Jul 12, 2018|archive-date=17 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417074019/https://www.bilderbergmeetings.org/index.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="hatch2">{{cite book|first=Alden|last=Hatch|year=1962 |title=HRH Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands: An authorized biography |chapter=The Hôtel de Bilderberg|publisher=Harrap|location=London|oclc=2359663 |quote=The idea was to get two people from each country who would give the conservative and liberal slant}}</ref>

Retinger approached [[Prince Bernhard of Lippe|Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands]]<ref name="Yomiuri1991">{{cite news|work=[[Daily Yomiuri]]|date=8 December 1991|title=Japan–US Relations – Past, Present and Future|quote=Rockefeller: The idea (of creating the Trilateral Commission) was incorporated in a speech that I made in the spring of 1972 for the benefit of some industrial forums that the Chase held in different cities around Europe, … Then Zbig (Zbig Brzezinski) and I both attended a meeting of the Bilderberg Group … and was shot down in flames. There was very little enthusiasm for the idea. I think they felt that they had a very congenial group, and they didn't want to have it interfered with by another element that would—I don't know what they thought, but in any case, they were not in favor.}}</ref> who agreed to promote the idea, together with former [[Prime Minister of Belgium|Belgian prime minister]] [[Paul van Zeeland]], and the then head of [[Unilever]], [[Paul Rijkens]]. Bernhard in turn contacted [[Walter Bedell Smith]], the then head of the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]], who asked [[Dwight Eisenhower|Eisenhower]] adviser [[Charles Douglas Jackson]] to deal with the suggestion.<ref name="Aubourg">{{cite journal |title=Organizing Atlanticism: the Bilderberg Group and the Atlantic Institute 1952–63 |author=Aubourg, Valerie |date=June 2003 |journal=Intelligence & National Security |pages=92–105 |volume=18 |issue=2 |doi=10.1080/02684520412331306760|s2cid=153892953 }}</ref> The guest list was to be drawn up by inviting two attenders from each nation, one of each to represent "conservative" and "liberal" points of view.<ref name="hatch2"/> Fifty delegates from 11 countries in Western Europe attended the first conference, along with 11 Americans.<ref name="rockefeller">{{cite book |last=Rockefeller |first=David |author-link=David Rockefeller |title=Memoirs |publisher=Random House |location=New York |year=2002 |page=[https://archive.org/details/davidrockefeller00davi/page/412 412] |isbn=978-0679405887 |url=https://archive.org/details/davidrockefeller00davi/page/412 }}</ref>

The success of the meeting led the organizers to arrange an annual conference. A permanent steering committee was established with Retinger appointed as permanent secretary. As well as organizing the conference, the steering committee also maintained a register of attendee names and contact details with the aim of creating an informal network of individuals who could call upon one another in a private capacity.<ref name="hatch3">{{cite book |first=Alden |last=Hatch |year=1962 |title=HRH Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands: An authorized biography |chapter=The Hôtel de Bilderberg |publisher=Harrap |location=London |oclc=2359663 |quote=anybody who has ever been to a Bilderberg Conference should be able to feel that he can, in a private capacity, call on any former member he has met}}</ref> Conferences were held in [[France]], Germany, and [[Denmark]] over the following three years. In 1957, the first U.S. conference was held on [[St. Simons, Georgia|St. Simons Island, Georgia]], with $30,000 from the [[Ford Foundation]]. The foundation also supplied funding for the 1959 and 1963 conferences.<ref name="Aubourg" />

== Participants ==
{{Main|List of Bilderberg participants}}
The participants are between 120 and 150 people, including [[political leaders]], experts from [[Private industry|industry]], [[finance]], [[NATO]], [[academia]] and the [[media (communication)|media]].<ref name="something"/> About two thirds of the participants come from Europe and the rest from North America; one third from [[politics]] and [[government]] and the rest from other fields.<ref name="something"/><ref name="BBC News Magazine 2011" /> Historically, attendee lists have been weighted toward bankers, politicians, directors of large businesses<ref name="Moorehead 1977">{{cite news |title=An exclusive club, perhaps without power, but certainly with influence: The Bilderberg group |author=Moorehead, Caroline |work=The Times |location =London |date=18 April 1977}}</ref> and board members from large publicly traded corporations, including [[Wallenberg family|Wallenberg]]-owned conglomerate holding company [[Investor AB]] and other Wallenberg-owned multinationals such as [[Ericsson]] and [[ABB]], [[IBM]], [[Xerox]], [[Royal Dutch Shell]], [[Nokia]] and [[Daimler AG|Daimler]].<ref name="prweb97" /> Heads of state, including former [[Monarchy of Spain|King]] [[Juan Carlos I of Spain]] and former [[Monarchy of the Netherlands|Queen]] [[Beatrix of the Netherlands]], have attended meetings.<ref name="prweb97">{{cite press release |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430211149/http://www.prnewswire.de/cgi/release?id=42594 |archive-date=30 April 2011 |url=http://www.prnewswire.de/cgi/release?id=42594 |title=Bilderberg Meeting of 1997 Assembles |date=13 June 1997 |publisher=[[PR Newswire]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=The Bilderberg group |author=Oliver, Mark |date=4 June 2004 |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/jun/04/netnotes.markoliver |location=London}}</ref>  A source connected to the group told ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' in 2013 that others, whose names are not publicly issued, sometimes turn up "just for the day" at the group's meetings.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10102168/Bilderberg-Group-No-conspiracy-just-the-most-influential-group-in-the-world.html "Bilderberg Group? No conspiracy, just the most influential group in the world"]. ''The Daily Telegraph'' (London). 6 June 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2013.</ref>

The Swedish banker and industrialist [[Marcus Wallenberg Jr.]] was a member of the steering committee and attended the meeting twenty-two times from the 1950s to 1981, a year prior to his death. His grandson [[Marcus Wallenberg (born 1956)|Marcus Wallenberg]] has attended it eight times and his other grandson, [[Jacob Wallenberg]], seventeen times.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Karl |first1=Hellberg |title=Bilderberggruppen och Wallenberg bakom selekteringen av svenskt regeringsstyre sedan 1950-talet |url=https://newsvoice.se/2018/08/bilderberggruppen-wallenberg-svenska-regeringar/ |website=Newsvoice|date=11 August 2018 }}</ref>

== Meetings ==
{{Further|List of Bilderberg meetings}}

== Activities and goals ==
The group's original goal of promoting [[Atlanticism]], strengthening US-European relations, and preventing another world war has grown.  According to Andrew Kakabadse, the Bilderberg Group's theme is to "bolster a consensus around [[free market capitalism|free-market Western capitalism]] and its interests around the globe".<ref name="BBC News Magazine 2011" /> In 2001, [[Denis Healey]], a Bilderberg group founder and a steering committee member for 30 years, said, "To say we were striving for a [[One World Government|one-world government]] is exaggerated, but not wholly unfair. Those of us in Bilderberg felt we couldn't go on forever fighting one another for nothing and killing people and rendering millions homeless. So we felt that a single community throughout the world would be a good thing."<ref name="Ronson 2001">{{cite news |first=Jon |last=Ronson |title=Who pulls the strings? (part 3) |date=10 March 2001 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/mar/10/extract1 |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=14 May 2009 |location=London}}</ref>

According to the web page of the group, the meetings are conducted under the [[Chatham House Rule]], allowing the participants to use any information they gained during the meeting, but not to disclose the names of the speakers or any other participants. According to former chairman [[Étienne Davignon]] in 2011, a major attraction of Bilderberg group meetings is that they provide an opportunity for participants to speak and debate candidly and to find out what major figures really think, without the risk of off-the-cuff comments becoming fodder for controversy in the media.<ref name="The Economist 2011">{{cite news |url=https://www.economist.com/node/17928993 |title=A special report on global leaders |pages=12–14 |date=22 January 2011 |newspaper=The Economist}}</ref> A 2008 press release from the "American Friends of Bilderberg" stated that "Bilderberg's only activity is its annual Conference and that at the meetings, no resolutions were proposed, no votes taken, and no policy statements issued."<ref name="bwire">{{cite web| year = 2008| title = Bilderberg Announces 2008 Conference| work = businesswire.com| publisher = BusinessWire| url = http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080605006246&newsLang=en| access-date =7 June 2008}}</ref> However, in November 2009, the group hosted a dinner meeting at the [[Château of Val-Duchesse]] in Brussels outside its annual conference to promote the candidacy of [[Herman Van Rompuy]] for [[President of the European Council]].<ref>{{cite news |title=EU Presidency candidate Herman Van Rompuy calls for new taxes |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/6582837/EU-Presidency-candidate-Herman-Van-Rompuy-calls-for-new-taxes.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/6582837/EU-Presidency-candidate-Herman-Van-Rompuy-calls-for-new-taxes.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |date=16 November 2009 |quote=during a secret dinner to promote his candidacy hosted by the elite Bilderberg Group |author=Waterfield, Bruno |location=London |work=The Daily Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

== Organizational structure ==
Meetings are organized by a steering committee with two members from each of approximately 18 nations.<ref name="bbc05">{{cite news |title=Inside the secretive Bilderberg Group |date=29 September 2005 |work=[[BBC News]] |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4290944.stm |access-date=5 August 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081229025714/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4290944.stm |archive-date=29 December 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> Official posts include a chairman and an Honorary Secretary General.<ref name="prweb97" /> The group's rules do not contain a membership category but former participants receive the annual conference reports.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20000302093537/http://www.schnews.org.uk/bilderberg/introduction.html Introduction p. 3] in ''Bilderberg meetings'', [[Schnews]], 1999</ref> The only category that exists is "member of the steering committee".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getAllAnswers.do?reference=P-2003-1370&language=EN |title=Parliamentary questions: Answer given by Mr Prodi on behalf of the Commission |date=15 May 2003 |publisher=[[European Parliament]]}}</ref> Besides the committee, there is a separate advisory group with overlapping membership.<ref name="iww">Entry for [[Conrad Black]], {{cite book |title=The International Who's Who |url=https://archive.org/details/internationalwho0000unse |url-access=registration |year=2000 |publisher=Europa Publications|isbn=9781857430509 }}</ref>

Dutch economist [[Ernst van der Beugel]] became permanent secretary in 1960, upon Retinger's death. Prince Bernhard continued to serve as the meeting's chairman until 1976, the year of his involvement in the [[Lockheed bribery scandals|Lockheed affair]]. The position of Honorary American Secretary General has been held successively by [[Joseph E. Johnson (government official)|Joseph E. Johnson]] of the [[Carnegie Endowment for International Peace|Carnegie Endowment]]; [[William Bundy]] of [[Princeton University]]; [[Theodore L. Eliot Jr.]], former [[United States Ambassador to Afghanistan|U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan]]; and [[Casimir A. Yost]] of [[Georgetown University]]'s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dod.gov/pubs/foi/reading_room/824.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060519182704/http://www.dod.gov/pubs/foi/reading_room/824.pdf |archive-date=19 May 2006 |title=Bilderberg: List of Invitees |date=31 January 1996 |publisher=United States Department of Defense |access-date=6 June 2009}}</ref>

According to James A. Bill, the "steering committee usually met twice a year to plan programs and to discuss the participant list".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bill|first1=James A.|title=George Ball: Behind the Scenes in U.S. Foreign Policy|date=August 1998|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0300076462|page=53}}</ref>

In 2002, in ''[[Them: Adventures with Extremists]]'', author [[Jon Ronson]] wrote that the group has a small central office in Holland which each year decides what country will host the forthcoming meeting. The host country then has to book an entire hotel for four days, plus arrange catering, transport and security. To fund this, the host solicits donations from sympathetic corporations such as [[Barclays]], [[Fiat Automobiles]], [[GlaxoSmithKline]], [[Heinz]], [[Nokia]] and [[Xerox]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Ronson |first= Jon| date=2015 |orig-year=First published 2002|title= Them: Adventures with Extremists  |location=London |publisher= Picador Classic |pages= 271–72 |isbn=978-1447275466 |author-link=Jon Ronson}}</ref>

== Chairmen of the Steering Committee ==

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!colspan=3|Chairmen of the Steering <br /> Committee of the Bilderberg Meetings
!Tenure as Chairman
!Country
!Office(s)
|-
! style="background:{{party color|Independent (politician)}};"|
| [[File:Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld 1976.jpg|120px|Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld]]
| [[Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld]] <br /> <small>(1911–2004)</small>
| 29 May 1954 – 29 September 1976 <br /> ({{Age in years and days|1954|05|29|1976|09|29}}) <br /><ref name="ADH">{{cite news|publisher=Facts on File World News Digest|date=14 May 1977 |title=Twenty-fifth Bilderberg meeting held in St joseph MO}}</ref>
| Netherlands
| [[List of Dutch consorts|Prince consort of the Netherlands]] <br /> (1948–1980) <br /> [[Inspector general]] of the [[Armed forces of the Netherlands]] <br /> (1970–1976) <br /> [[Inspector general]] of the [[Royal Netherlands Air Force]] <br /> (1953–1970) <br /> [[Inspector general]] of the [[Royal Netherlands Navy]] <br /> (1946–1970) <br /> [[Inspector general]] of the [[Royal Netherlands Army]] <br /> (1945–1970) <br /> [[Commander-in-chief]] of the [[Armed forces of the Netherlands]] <br /> (1944–1945)
|-
! style="background-Color:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}};"|
| [[File:Lord Alec Douglas-Home Allan Warren.jpg|120px|Alec Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel]]
| [[Alec Douglas-Home|Alec Douglas-Home, <br /> Baron Home of the Hirsel]] <br /> <small>(1903–1995)</small>
| 22 April 1977 – 20 April 1980 <br /> ({{Age in years and days|1977|04|22|1980|04|20}}) <br /><ref name="ADH" />
| United Kingdom
| [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]] <br /> (1963–1964) <br /> [[Leader of the Conservative Party (UK)|Leader of the Conservative Party]] <br /> (1963–1965) <br /> [[Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs]] <br /> (1960–1963, 1970–1974) <br /> [[Lord President of the Council]] <br /> (1957, 1959–1960) <br /> [[Leader of the House of Lords]] <br /> (1957–1960) <br /> [[Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations]] <br /> (1955–1960) <br /> [[House of Lords|Member of the House of Lords]] <br /> (1951–1963, 1974–1995) <br /> [[House of Commons|Member of Parliament]] <br /> (1931–1945, 1950–1951, 1963–1974)
|-
! style="background:{{party color|Free Democratic Party (Germany)}};"|
| [[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1989-047-20, Walter Scheel.jpg|120px|Walter Scheel]]
| [[Walter Scheel]] <br /> <small>(1919–2016)</small>
| 15 May 1981 – 12 May 1985 <br /> ({{Age in years and days|1981|05|15|1985|05|12}}) <br /><ref>{{cite web|title=Bilderberg Meetings Conference Report 1981|url=http://fr.scribd.com/doc/172648498/Bilderberg-Meetings-Conference-Report-1981}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Bilderberg Meetings Conference Report 1985|url=http://fr.scribd.com/doc/172649225/Bilderberg-Meetings-Conference-Report-1985}}</ref>
| Germany
| [[President of Germany]] <br /> (1974–1979) <br /> (Acting) [[Chancellor of Germany]] <br /> (1974) <br /> [[Vice-Chancellor of Germany|Vice-Chancellor]] <br /> (1969–1974) <br /> [[Minister for Foreign Affairs (Germany)|Minister of Foreign Affairs]] <br /> (1969–1974) <br /> [[Free Democratic Party (Germany)#Leadership|Leader of the Free Democratic Party]] <br /> (1968–1974) <br /> [[Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development|Minister of Economic Cooperation]] <br /> (1961–1969) <br /> [[Member of the European Parliament]] <br /> (1956–1961) <br /> [[Bundestag|Member of the Bundestag]] <br /> (1953–1974)
|-
! style="background:{{party color|Independent (politician)}};"|
|
| [[Eric Roll, Baron Roll of Ipsden]] <br /> <small>(1907–2005)</small>
| 25 April 1986 – 14 May 1989 <br /> ({{Age in years and days|1986|04|25|1989|05|14}}) <br /><ref name="whoswho99">{{cite book |title=Who's Who |year=1999|title-link=Who's Who (UK)}}</ref>
| United Kingdom
| [[House of Lords|Member of the House of Lords]] <br /> (1977–2005)
|-
! style="background-Color:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}};"|
| [[File:Peter Carington 1984.jpg|120px|Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington]]
| [[Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington]] <br /> <small>(1919–2018)</small>
| 11 May 1990 – 17 May 1998 <br /> ({{Age in years and days|1990|05|11|1998|05|17}}) <br /><ref name="rockefeller" /><ref>{{cite web|title=Bilderberg Meetings Conference Report 1990|url=http://fr.scribd.com/doc/172343239/Bilderberg-Meetings-Conference-Report-1990}}</ref>
| United Kingdom
| [[Secretary General of NATO]] <br /> (1984–1988) <br /> [[Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs]] <br /> (1979–1982) <br /> [[Department of Energy (United Kingdom)|Secretary of State for Energy]] <br /> (1974) <br /> [[Chairman of the Conservative Party]] <br /> (1972–1974) <br /> [[Secretary of State for Defence]] <br /> (1970–1974) <br /> [[Leader of the House of Lords]] <br /> (1963–1964) <br /> [[Minister without portfolio]] <br /> (1963–1964) <br /> [[List of the First Lords of the Admiralty|First Lord of the Admiralty]] <br /> (1959–1963) <br /> [[List of High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to Australia|High Commissioner to Australia]] <br /> (1956–1959) <br /> [[House of Lords|Member of the House of Lords]] <br /> (1941–2018)
|-
! style="background-Color:{{party color|Humanist Democratic Centre}};"|
| [[File:Etienne Davignon1.jpg|120px|Étienne Davignon, Viscount Davignon]]
| [[Étienne Davignon|Étienne Davignon, Viscount Davignon]] <br /> <small>(born 1932)</small>
| 3 June 1999 – 12 June 2011 <br /> ({{Age in years and days|1999|06|03|2011|06|12}}) <br /><ref name="bbc05" /><ref>{{cite web|title=Booklet of the 1999 annual conference|url=http://www.schnews.org.uk/bilderberg/introduction.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000302093537/http://www.schnews.org.uk/bilderberg/introduction.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2000-03-02|website=Schnews}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Final List of Participants of the 2011 Bilderberg annual conference |url=https://www.bilderbergmeetings.org/participants_2011.html |website=Official website |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110828210925/http://www.bilderbergmeetings.org/participants_2011.html |archive-date=28 August 2011 |df=dmy }}</ref>
| Belgium
| [[European Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship|European Commissioner for Industrial Affairs]] and [[European Commissioner for Energy|Energy]] <br /> (1981–1985) <br /> [[European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services|European Commissioner for Internal Market]], <br /> [[European Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union, Audit and Anti-Fraud|Customs Union]] and [[European Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship|Industrial Affairs]] <br /> (1977–1981)
|-
! style="background:{{party color|Independent (politician)}};"|
| [[File:Henri de Castries.jpg|120px|Henri de Castries, 5th Count of Castries]]
| [[Henri de Castries|Henri de Castries, 5th Count of Castries]] <br /> <small>(born 1954)</small>
| 31 May 2012 – 2019 <br /> (7 years) <br /><ref>{{cite web|title=Final List of Participants of the 2012 Bilderberg annual conference|url=https://www.bilderbergmeetings.org/participants2012.html|publisher=Bilderberg Meetings|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130726214724/http://www.bilderbergmeetings.org/participants2012.html|archive-date=26 July 2013|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
| France
| Chairman and [[CEO]] of [[AXA]] (2000–2016)
|}

== Criticism==

There have been long standing concerns about [[lobbying]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.sky.com/story/1100183/bilderberg-conference-watford-too-secret |title=Bilderberg Conference Watford 'Too Secret' |publisher=[[Sky News]] |date=6 June 2013 |access-date=11 June 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/2013/06/my-brush-bilderberg |title=My brush with Bilderberg |last=Jones |first=Nelson |work=[[New Statesman]] |date=10 June 2013 |access-date=11 June 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615031248/http://www.newstatesman.com/2013/06/my-brush-bilderberg |archive-date=15 June 2013 }}</ref> since senior policymakers meet with corporate lobbyists, and in the case of the 2015 meeting even with senior figures at [[Transparency International]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Charlie Skelton |date=2015-06-14 |title=Bilderberg 2015: TTIP and a travesty of transparency |language=en |work=The Guardian |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/14/bilderberg-2015-a-travesty-of-transparency |access-date=2022-11-15}}</ref>

Partly because of its working methods to ensure strict privacy and secrecy,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thelocal.ch/20190528/secretive-bilderberg-meeting-to-be-held-in-switzerland-from-may-30th-reports|title=Confirmed: Secretive Bilderberg Meeting to be held in Switzerland from May 30th|date=2019-05-28|website=www.thelocal.ch|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-05-29}}</ref> the Bilderberg Group has been criticised for its lack of transparency and accountability.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/11/bilderberg-davidcameron |title=Bilderberg 2013: The sun sets on Watford |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=11 June 2013 |access-date=11 June 2013 |location=London |first1=Michael |last1=Meacher |first2=Charlie |last2=Skelton}}</ref> 
Ian Richardson sees Bilderberg as the transnational [[power elite]], "an integral, and to some extent critical, part of the existing system of [[global governance]]", that is "not acting in the interests of the whole". Many of these critics have emphasized that they do not accept or do not believe that there is enough evidence to support the diversity of conspiracy theories that have arisen in regard to the group and that they disapprove of what they regard as their unpleasant associations and connotations.<ref name=ian>{{cite news|last=Richardson|first=Ian|title=Chantilly Laced: Holding Bilderberg and the Transnational Policy Elite to Account|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/ian-richardson/chantilly-laced-holding-b_b_1558425.html|access-date=21 September 2015|work=Huffington Post|date=31 May 2012}}</ref> For example, an article by the English commentator Charlie Skelton in ''[[The Guardian]]'' in June 2017 criticized the world view expressed in an agenda published by the Bilderberg group without engaging in speculation about conspiratorial activities.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/02/bilderberg-secretive-conference-eric-schmidt|title=Bilderberg: the world's most secretive conference is as out of touch as ever|last=Skelton|first=Charlie|date=2 June 2017|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=18 April 2018}}</ref>

==Conspiracy theories ==
The secrecy of the proceedings has led not only to varied criticism of the group and its activities from across the political spectrum but also to a number of [[Conspiracy theory|conspiracy theories]],<ref name=Gowen>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/is-bilderberg-a-conference-on-world-affairs-or-a-powerful-global-cabal-depends-on-who-you-ask/2012/06/01/gJQA5uqx7U_story.html|title=Is Bilderberg a conference on world affairs or a powerful global cabal? Depends on who you ask.|author=Gowen, Annie|date=2 June 2012|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref><ref name="The Economist 2011" /><ref name="Hayton 2005">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4290944.stm |title=Inside the secretive Bilderberg Group |author=Bill Hayton |work=[[BBC News]] |date=29 September 2005 |access-date=19 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110208095916/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4290944.stm |archive-date=8 February 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> which have grown especially popular within certain political movements, although the  different factions of theorists often disagree about the exact nature of the group's intentions and use different sources and levels of evidentiary rigor to back up their conjectures. Some on the left, or of less specific political affiliations, accuse the Bilderberg group either of covertly imposing or generally propping up capitalist domination and corporate power,<ref name="Weissert 2010">{{cite news |author=Weissert, Will |title=Fidel Castro fascinated by Bilderberg Club conspiracy theory |date=10 August 2010 |newspaper=[[The Christian Science Monitor]] |location=Boston |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/From-the-news-wires/2010/0820/Fidel-Castro-fascinated-by-Bilderberg-Club-conspiracy-theory |access-date=16 October 2010}}</ref> while some on the right have accused the group of imposing or helping to prepare the way for a [[world government]] and a global [[planned economy]]. The right-wing theorists tend to treat the group as the central directorate or planning arm of the conspiracy or at least attribute considerable importance to its role, whereas most of the left-wing and more loosely-affiliated or apolitical theorists treat it as just one of a set of institutions that help to advance international corporate interests and ideology.<ref name="Wallechinsky and Wallace 1975">{{cite book |author=Wallechinsky, David |author-link1=David Wallechinsky |author2=Wallace, Irving |author-link2=Irving Wallace |chapter=The Bilderberg Group Part 2 |title=[[The People's Almanac]] |publisher=Doubleday |year=1975 |isbn=978-0385040600 |at=[https://archive.org/details/peoplesalmanac00wall/page/ cited paragraphs] |chapter-url=http://www.trivia-library.com/c/most-powerful-in-the-world-the-bilderberg-group-part-2.htm }}</ref>

In 2005, Davignon discussed accusations of the group striving for a one-world government with the [[BBC]]: "It is unavoidable and it doesn't matter. There will always be people who believe in conspiracies but things happen in a much more incoherent fashion. ... When people say this is a secret government of the world I say that if we were a secret government of the world we should be bloody ashamed of ourselves."<ref name="Hayton 2005" />

In a 1994 report, ''Right Woos Left'', published by the [[Political Research Associates]], investigative journalist [[Chip Berlet]] argued that [[right-wing populism|right-wing populist]] conspiracy theories about the Bilderberg group date back to as early as 1964 and can be found in [[Phyllis Schlafly]]'s self-published book ''A Choice, Not an Echo'',<ref>Phyllis Schlafly, ''A Choice Not an Echo: The Inside Story of How American Presidents Are Chosen'' (Pere Marquette Press, 1964) {{ISBN|0686114868}}</ref> which promoted a [[conspiracy theory]] in which the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] was secretly controlled by elitist intellectuals dominated by members of the Bilderberg group, whose [[neoliberalism|internationalist]] policies would pave the way for [[world communism]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.publiceye.org/rightwoo/rwooz9-03.html |title=The New Right & the Secular Humanism Conspiracy Theory|author=Chip Berlet |year=1994}}</ref>

In August 2010, former Cuban president [[Fidel Castro]] wrote an article for the [[Communist Party of Cuba|Cuban Communist Party]] newspaper ''[[Granma (newspaper)|Granma]]'' in which he cited [[Daniel Estulin]]'s 2006 book ''The Secrets of the Bilderberg Club'',<ref>Daniel Estulin, ''Los secretos del club Bilderberg'' (Ediciones del Bronce, 2006).</ref> which, as quoted by Castro, describes "sinister cliques and the Bilderberg lobbyists" manipulating the public "to install a world government that knows no borders and is not accountable to anyone but its own self."<ref name="Weissert 2010" />

Proponents of Bilderberg conspiracy theories in the United States include such groups and individuals such as the [[John Birch Society]],<ref name="Wallechinsky and Wallace 1975" /><ref name="Berlet 2000">{{cite web|author=Berlet, Chip |title=John Birch Society |year=2000 |url=http://www.publiceye.org/tooclose/jbs.html |access-date=6 October 2010 |author-link=Chip Berlet}}</ref> political activist Phyllis Schlafly,<ref name="Berlet 2000" /> writer [[Jim Tucker (journalist)|Jim Tucker]],<ref name="Hollingshead 2011">{{Cite news|author=Iain Hollingshead |title=The Bilderberg Group: fact and fantasy |date=4 June 2010 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/7804197/The-Bilderberg-Group-fact-and-fantasy.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/7804197/The-Bilderberg-Group-fact-and-fantasy.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=20 June 2011 |location=London |work=The Daily Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}</ref> political activist [[Lyndon LaRouche]],<ref name="King 1979">{{cite news |first=Dennis |last=King |title=NCLC'S Private Intelligence Agency |year=1979 |url=http://lyndonlarouchewatch.org/ourtown3.htm |work=Our Town |access-date=14 May 2009 |location=New York}}</ref> conspiracy theorist [[Alex Jones]],<ref name="BBC News Magazine 2011" /><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10108702/Idiot-Bilderberg-conspiracy-theorist-disrupts-BBC-politics-show.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130616013639/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10108702/Idiot-Bilderberg-conspiracy-theorist-disrupts-BBC-politics-show.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 June 2013 |title={{-'}}Idiot' Bilderberg conspiracy theorist disrupts BBC politics show |author=Dixon, Hayley|date=9 June 2013 |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London}}</ref><ref name=Taylor>{{cite web |title=Conspiracy Theorist Alex Jones Goes Berserk During BBC Show |last=Taylor|first=Adam |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/alex-jones-goes-beserk-during-bbc-show-2013-6 |newspaper=[[Business Insider]] |date=9 June 2013 |access-date=9 June 2013}}</ref> and politician [[Jesse Ventura]], who made the Bilderberg group a topic of a 2009 episode of his [[TruTV]] series ''[[Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.trutv.com/shows/conspiracy_theory/episodes/season1.html |title=List of Season 1 episodes for Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura |publisher=truTV |date=30 December 2009 |access-date=11 January 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101008183742/http://www.trutv.com/shows/conspiracy_theory/episodes/season1.html |archive-date=8 October 2010 }}</ref> Although conspiracy theories about the Bilderberg Group have gained the most widespread credence by far in the United States, some high-profile non-American proponents have raised them as well, including Moldovan-Italian writer [[Nicolai Lilin]],<ref>{{cite web |last=Garros|first=Aleksandr|url=https://snob.ru/selected/entry/7841/ |title=Непереводимая игра слов|language= ru|date= 10 October 2009|publisher=Snob.ru |access-date=24 September 2024 }}</ref> Lithuanian writer [[Daniel Estulin]]<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/that-bilderberg-book/ |title=That Bilderberg Book |author=Bruce Ramsey |date=30 July 2009 |access-date=23 January 2011 |newspaper=The Seattle Times}}</ref> and British politician [[Nigel Farage]].<ref name="Farage">{{cite web |last1=Walker |first1=Peter |title=Nigel Farage under fire over 'antisemitic tropes' on far-right US talkshow |date=6 May 2019 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/may/06/nigel-farage-under-fire-alleged-antisemitic-tropes-far-right-us-talkshow-alex-jones |publisher=Guardian News & Media Limited |access-date=6 May 2019}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Bohemian Club]]
* [[Le Cercle]]
* [[Transnational capitalist class]]
* [[Trilateral Commission]]
* [[Valdai Discussion Club]]
* [[World Economic Forum]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book
 | last = Ronson
 | first = Jon
 | author-link = Jon Ronson
 | year = 2001
 | title = Them: Adventures with Extremists
 | publisher = Picador
 | location = London
 | isbn = 978-0330375467
 | title-link = Them: Adventures with Extremists
 }}
* {{cite book
 | last = Eringer
 | first = Robert
 | year = 1980
 | title = The Global Manipulators
 | publisher = Pentacle Books
 | location = Bristol, England
 | oclc = 26551991
 }}
* {{cite book
 | last = Estulin
 | first = Daniel
 | author-link = Daniel Estulin
 | year = 2007
 | title = The True Story of the Bilderberg Group
 | publisher = Trine Day
 | location = Oregon
 | isbn = 978-0977795345
 | url = https://archive.org/details/truestoryofbilde00dani
 }}
* {{cite book
 | last = Gijswijt
 | first = Thomas W.
 | year = 2019
 | title = Informal Alliance: The Bilderberg Group And Transatlantic Relations During The Cold War, 1952–1968
 | publisher = Routledgey
 | location = London
 | isbn = 978-0815396741
 }}
* {{cite book
 | last = Hodapp
 | first = Christopher
 | author-link = Christopher Hodapp
 | author2 = Alice Von Kannon
 | title = Conspiracy Theories & Secret Societies For Dummies
 | publisher = Wiley
 | location = Hoboken, NJ
 | year = 2008
 | isbn = 978-0470184080
 | url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780470184080
 }}
* {{cite book
 | last = Richardson
 | first = Ian N.
 |author2=Andrew P. Kakabadse |author3=Nada K. Kakabadse
 | title = Bilderberg People: Elite power and consensus in world affairs
 | publisher = Routledge
 | location = Hoboken, NJ
 | year = 2011
 | isbn = 978-0415576352
 }}
* {{cite book
 | last = Klimczuk
 | first = Stephen
 |author2=Gerald Warner
 | title = Secret Places, Hidden Sanctuaries: Uncovering Mysterious Sites, Symbols and Societies
 | publisher = Sterling
 | year = 2010
 | isbn = 978-1402762079
| title-link = Secret Places, Hidden Sanctuaries
 }}
* {{cite book|last1=Retinger|first1=J.H|title=The bilderberg group|date=August 1956|url=http://fr.scribd.com/doc/169401263/Bilderberg-Group-Essay-1956-by-Retinger}} – A short essay on the origins of the group
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Bilderberg Group}}
{{Wikiquote}}
{{refbegin|30em}}
* [https://bilderbergmeetings.org Official website] of the Bilderberg conference (since 2010)
* [http://www.bilderberg.nl/uk/hotels/hotel-de-bilderberg/ Hotel Website – English Version]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3773019.stm Bilderberg: The Ultimate Conspiracy Theory]
* [https://bilderberg.org/bildhist.htm Ex-BBC journalist Tony Gosling: published history on Josef Retinger, Prince Bernhard and Bilderberg group origins]
* {{Skeptoid | id=4225 | number=225 | title= Beware the Bilderberg Group!|  date= September 28, 2010 | quote= | access-date=}}{{refend}}
<!-- NEEDS A LINK * Andrzej Pieczewski, Józef H. Retinger – pomysłodawca i współtwórca Grupy Bilderbergu (Joseph Retinger – initiator and co-founder of the Bilderberg Group), „Studia polityczne ISP PAN", nr 10/2000 -->

{{Bilderberg Group}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Bilderberg Meeting| ]]
[[Category:1954 establishments in the Netherlands]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theories]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1954]]
[[Category:Transnationalism]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theories in the Netherlands]]
[[Category:Recurring events established in 1954]]