Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Aug 10, 2026

Here's who's going to Davos this year

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the event in the Swiss Alps and its theme is “Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World.”The annual economic gathering will run from January 21 until January 24.

Business leaders and politicians from around the world are gearing up to attend another session of the World Economic Forum (WEF), in Davos, Switzerland next week.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the event in the Swiss Alps and its theme is “Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World.” The annual economic gathering will run from January 21 until January 24.


Sanna Marin, prime minister of Finland

At 34, Sanna Marin is the world’s youngest serving prime minister as well as Finland’s third female leader. She heads a four-party coalition government, whose leaders are all women too.

At the time of her appointment, in December, she said she never thought about her age or gender. “I think of the reasons I got into politics, and those things for which we have won the trust of the electorate,” she said.

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission

The former German minister for defense became the head of the EU’s executive arm in December. The new president of the European Commission has many pressing subjects to deal with, including gathering support for her new climate change package. The European Green Deal, a proposal launched in December, aims to make all the EU countries climate neutral by 2050.


Christine Lagarde, ECB president

The newly-appointed head of the European Central Bank is a well-known figure at WEF. Lagarde, the first female president of the ECB, used to visit the event in her role as managing director of the International Monetary Fund.

This time around her words in Davos will be even more closely monitored, as investors look for further clues about the central bank’s strategic review. Lagarde made headlines in late 2019 when stating she wanted the ECB to make climate change a priority.


Greta Thunberg, climate activist

The 17-year old Swedish climate activist is due to return to Davos this year. Time’s “Person of the Year” in 2019 has a clear message to lawmakers and business leaders: commit to divest from fossil fuels now.

“We demand that at this year’s forum, participants from all companies, banks, institutions and governments immediately halt all investments in fossil fuel exploration and extraction, immediately end all fossil fuel subsidies and immediately and completely divest from fossil fuels. We don’t want these things done by 2050, 2030 or even 2021, we want this done now -as in right now,” Greta wrote in The Guardian newspaper.


Ren Zhengfei, Huawei Technologies founder

Technology has always been a key point of discussion at Davos and this year won’t be any exception, with 5G technology being a crucial part of the debate.

Huawei has led the 5G race across the world, but at the same time it sparked some division between traditional allies, such as the United States and the European Union. U.S. authorities have raised concerns about Huawei’s connections to the Chinese government, which it denies, and took steps to bar the company from selling its technology in the U.S. market. Meanwhile, the European Union is still forming its collective answer to the issues, but the German government announced it does not want to outright block the Chinese firm.


Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the IMF

The Bulgarian national was appointed head of the International Monetary Fund in the fall of 2019. She will be presenting the IMF’s latest economic assessment in Davos, joined by Gita Gopinath, the institution’s chief economist.


Deepika Padukone, Bollywood star

She is an internationally-acclaimed actress and mental health ambassador. Padukone will be awarded with one of the WEF’s Crystal Awards.

She was recently pictured standing silently behind students protesting against the Indian government. The Bollywood star surprised many, given that members of the movie industry tend to avoid politics.

Deepika has been named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.


Steven Mnuchin, US Treasury Secretary

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin led the discussion in Davos in 2017, having said at a news conference that a weaker dollar was good for the United States. His comments represented a shift in U.S. policy and sparked a dollar sell-off.


George Soros, chairman of Soros Fund Management

The billionaire investor George Soros is a familiar face in the Swiss Alps. In the last edition, Soros expressed his concerns over President Donald Trump’s foreign and economic policy.

“An effective policy towards China can’t be reduced to a slogan. It needs to be far more sophisticated, detailed and practical; and it must include an American economic response to the Belt and Road Initiative,” he said.


Donald Trump, US president

U.S. President Donald Trump is set to attend this year’s WEF. Trump cancelled his participation at the event in 2019, amid a row with the Democratic Party over security spending.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Russia’s A7 Builds a State-Linked Payments Network Beyond Western Sanctions
Hyper-Realistic Reborn Dolls Draw Collectors Seeking Comfort and Craft
Gen Z Cuts Back on Dating as a Night Out Nears $200
Patients Turn to Artificial Intelligence for Therapy as Psychiatrists Warn of Privacy and Clinical Risks
Couples Embrace ‘Sleep Divorce’ to Protect Rest and Reduce Tension
Meta Ordered to Pay $567 Million and Change Facebook and Instagram Safeguards for Children
Up to only 10 Months in Prison for Swedish Officer’s Murderer Sparks Anger
Success: Nvidia Turned Gaming Chips Into the Engine of the AI Boom
Jorge Messi, Lionel Messi’s Father and Longtime Agent, Dies at 68
AI’s Next Bottleneck Is Power, Not Just Nvidia Chips
Advertising trick: Pepsi’s Harrier Jet Commercial Led to a $700,000 Court Fight
Meta Raises AI Spending Target to as Much as $145bn Despite Pressure Over Returns
Danube Drought Exposes Nazi Wrecks and Pushes Central Europe’s Power System to the Brink
Joe Biden’s Cancer Has Spread Beyond His Bones, Hunter Biden Says
Air Traffic Control Outage Grounded Flights Across the Midwest
Why 2027 Could Be a Strong Year for Stocks—and Why the Forecast Is Fragile
Why Markets May Look Quiet in August After Big Tech Earnings
Australian Crew Evacuates Seriously Ill American From Antarctica in Midwinter Darkness
Trump’s Top General Seeks an Exit Strategy From Iran War, Report Says
Brock Lesnar Retires From Wrestling, Closing a Career of Rare Athletic Range and Lasting Controversy
Trump-Era Policy Shifts Test the Boundaries of U.S. Institutions
UK Drought Cuts Harvests and Raises Food-Security Fears
UFO: Pentagon Releases Video of Unidentified Object Tracked Over Middle East
US Health Secretary: “I’m Not Afraid of Germs — I Used to Snort Cocaine Off Toilet Seats”
Ukraine Tells Senate Republicans Its Drone War Offers a Blueprint for America
Weight-Loss Drug Boom Tests the Limits of Prescription Advertising Rules
Trump Keeps Hegseth at Pentagon While Leaving Door Open for DeSantis
UK Clears Paramount’s Warner Bros. Discovery Deal, but US Trial Looms
UK Prosecutors Add 38 Charges Against Andrew and Tristan Tate
Taiwan’s President Joins Wartime Command Drill as China Pressure Grows
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan Sign Mutual-Defence Pact
HMRC’s 2029 Tax Shift Could Overlap Old and New Self-Assessment Bills
Thetford Disorder Prompts Expanded Police Powers Amid Asylum-Housing Protests
Cambridge Faces Calls for Independent Review of Jason Arday Appointment
Scotland’s ‘Cock of the North’ Woodland Is Being Felled After Wind Damage
Reform UK and Greens Unite Against Vast Solar Plans for Kent Marshland
New Zealand Draws Wealthy Americans With Revamped Investor Visa
Senate Panel Votes to Hold Anthony Fauci in Contempt After Fifth Amendment Testimony
Cambridge Professor Jason Arday Resigns as University Opens Inquiry Into His Credentials
Manchester Power Failure Disrupts Trains Across North West Into Friday
Lightning Strike Kills Yala FC Player During Match in Southern Thailand
Senate Scrutinises AI-Driven Personalised Pricing
Spain Seeks Mainland Transfers for 1,100 Children Stranded in Ceuta
Spain and Morocco Trade Blame After 72,000 Migrants Enter Ceuta
Met Police Investigated Journalist Who Questioned Cambridge Professor
Badenoch Defends Tory Candidate Jailed for Antisemitic Abuse of Luciana Berger
NHS Spends £240m a Year Storing Paper Records Despite Digital Push
Apple Seeks Court Order to Stop OpenAI Using Alleged Trade Secrets
Breaking With the Past: One of the World’s Smallest Countries Changes Its Name
AI Is Remaking the US Economy, From GDP Growth to iPhone Prices
×