The 2023 World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Annual Meeting, the world’s largest annual economics event, began in Davos, Switzerland today. The forum will run through January 20th with over 2,700 leaders from 130 countries, including 52 heads of state and government. 600 global CEOs and an estimated 1,500 C-suite level executives will also be in attendance. They will be addressing the state of the world and discussing global economic development priorities for the coming year.
An estimated 116 billionaires are attending this year, a 40-percent increase from a decade ago. Representatives from the US will form the largest group with 33 delegates. Some 18 more billionaires are coming from Europe, and 13 from India, including industrialist Gautam Adani, the world’s fourth-richest person, according to the Billionaires Index.
However, a large number of top-tier leaders won’t be there. Those foregoing the event this year include, US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, China’s Xi Jinping, and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and the entire Russian business establishment, have been scratched off the guest list due to the war of aggression launched against Ukraine.
