Internal Allegations Were Left Out
The lawyers who conducted the investigation reportedly presented the board with several findings between June and August 2025. These referred to systemic bullying, psychological pressure on employees and discrimination. According to the report, the allegations included discrimination linked to pregnancy and age, public humiliation and inappropriate comments and messages in the workplace.
The WEF’s public statement described this in more general terms. It said some employees had expressed that they had not been treated to their satisfaction. The board said it regretted this and had taken measures in response.
The internal documents also went further than the public statement on financial matters, according to the Wall Street Journal. Investigators reportedly described a pattern in which the Schwabs used the Forum to fund their lavish lifestyle. The allegations included unreimbursed luxury private travel, misuse of company funds and Forum accounts and the use of company cars for holidays and private errands.
Schwab is also said to have received luxury gifts from Forum participants. The newspaper named fur coats, Russian tea sets and Tiffany cufflinks. Publicly, however, the WEF referred to smaller irregularities that had arisen from blurred boundaries between personal commitment and Forum work. These reflected deep dedication rather than misconduct, it said.
Report Points to Interference in Rankings
The internal findings also covered data and reports produced by the World Economic Forum. At issue are the Global Competitiveness Reports, in which the WEF regularly ranks countries by competitiveness.
In 2017 and 2018, Schwab reportedly delayed an improvement in Britain’s ranking because he did not want it to be used by Brexit supporters in the debate over leaving the European Union. In 2022, he is said to have passed an unpublished draft of a report to a senior government official from a Southeast Asian country after that country’s ranking had fallen. He then reportedly ordered publication to be delayed. The report ultimately did not appear.
The WEF’s public statement in August 2025 made no mention of data manipulation, interference in reports or the bypassing of decision-making procedures.
Schwab has denied the allegations since the start of the affair. After the whistleblower letter emerged, his family said the accusations were false. At the time, he announced legal action against those behind the letter and against people who spread the allegations. After the investigation was concluded, he publicly presented the outcome as having cleared him.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Schwab received a pension payment worth around $7m (€6m) as part of his departure. This was reportedly followed by another payment of about $200,000 (€170,000) so that the couple would vacate their offices at the Forum and fund a private assistant at their residence. In return, Schwab is said to have agreed not to take any active role in the Forum again.
Now, according to the documents, he is trying to secure access again. Beyond an advisory role, his requests include visits for him and his wife to WEF sites abroad, personal security measures and the payment of at least half his private legal costs.
The WEF’s board of trustees is currently led by BlackRock chief Larry Fink and Roche vice-chairman André Hoffmann on an interim basis. They took over in August 2025 after former Nestlé chief Peter Brabeck-Letmathe stepped down as interim chairman. The board is due to meet again in mid-August.
The World Economic Forum said it had held successful meetings this year and was focused on continuing to provide a platform for global cooperation.
