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Reflecting on decades of work to make the world a better place.

That is where yours truly finds World Economic Forum (WEF) founder Dr. Klaus Schwab, 84, who just published a new book dubbed Restoring Truth and Trust.

"When I look at the world at the moment, our whole context — political, economic, social, technological is in transformation ... And here we see at the same time an erosion of truth and of trust. So, I'm very concerned that if we do not restore truth and trust, if we are not capable to restore truth and trust in our society, we will lose control over the [transformative] processes," Schwab told me in a new episode of Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid Unfiltered podcast (video above; listen below).

He emphasizes that the Forum — which he founded in 1971 — was created to foster dialogue between business, government, and civil society, arguing that complex global challenges cannot be solved by any single sector alone. Schwab says this principle of multi-stakeholder cooperation remains central to the WEF’s mission today.

Some top takeaways from the chat:

Schwab on his legacy: "If I look for example at the different facets of the World Economic Forum, I'm most proud maybe of two things. The first one is that the Forum has served in on many occasions as a decisive factor to create better relations, once even to prevent the war and so on. But the other thing I'm particularly proud of is the social entrepreneurs we as a community have created. We can demonstrate a positive impact on the lives of over 800 million people."

Schwab on president Trump's 2026 Davos speech: "I think to a certain extent Davos is always a reflection of what's happening. Many people say they come at the beginning of the year to Davos to feel the pulse of the year. This year, Davos had the opportunity to welcome president Trump and his key cabinet members and a very strong American business community. I think that it's a reflection of what's happening in the world with pre-eminence of, let's say, the US determining the news."

Schwab on the future of Europe and the US relationship: "I think in the end a partnership needs to two equals. A partnership is stable if you have two partners of equal weight. You can argue Europe more or less has the same economic weight as as the US."

Schwab on if the annual meeting should leave Davos: "My hope is that we stay in this village ... The soul of the meeting is that it is really a place where not only business and politicians meet, but where all key stakeholders [meet]. I come back to the notion of stakeholders. We're all key stakeholders, and it's such a reason why I made particular efforts to integrate young voices, to integrate NGOs. So you have the whole diversity of global societies."

Schwab on whether he would accept an invite to attend WEF 2027: "Oh, of course. I will come back, depending on the situation. I'm only participating in something when I can take an active role."

However, Schwab was not at the epicenter of the 2026 meeting in Davos, Switzerland this past January.

It was arguably one of the most important annual meetings of the past decade as Trump made his return in person after addressing the room virtually in early 2025 post election.

The meeting brought together billionaires like Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and world leaders like Trump and Canada's Mark Carney. Discussion topics ranged from the future of Greenland, Trump's tariff policy, and how AI stands to uproot society.

Schwab resigned from WEF in April 2025 amid an investigation into the culture of the organization. He was cleared of any wrongdoing before the end of 2025, but the Forum is now being led primarily by BlackRock billionaire founder Larry Fink. It's widely viewed in WEF circles that ECB president Christine Lagarde will take over as the institution's leader sometime in 2027.

Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor and a member of Yahoo Finance's editorial leadership team. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Tips on stories? Email brian.sozzi@yahoofinance.com.

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