CEOs, World Leaders Prep for Awkward Encounters at Davos
Last year’s Davos coincided with Trump taking office for his second term. A lot has happened since then, to put it mildly.
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The Coachella for business and political leaders is back again, and it will have higher stakes than whether or not the stage has an ice rink.
Hundreds of private jets have started touching down in the Swiss Alps for the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos. Altogether, 850 CEOs and company chairpeople and 64 heads of state, including six of the seven G7 leaders, are expected to visit the alpine town this week. A total of 3,000 attendees from 130 countries are slated to attend the event, including President Trump.
Last year’s Davos coincided with Trump taking office for his second term. A lot has happened since then, to put it mildly.
Global Economic (Dis)order
Tensions might be high at Davos this year, following months of Trump-helmed tariffs that spooked global supply chains. More than four in ten execs told the WEF that doing business was harder in 2025 compared with the year before, while just 7% said it got better (the rest didn’t respond or said it was the same). Trump could also draw some glares at Davos because of his recent threats to acquire Greenland.
A couple of other topics that are likely to stir up debate:
- The WEF called out AI in two of its five “key global challenges,” focal points of its programming. (Notably, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is expected to attend.) Execs are expected to discuss how AI can boost revenue and be responsibly leveraged to scale new tech. In contrast, another WEF “challenge” is how businesses can continue to invest in humans, not just humanoids.
- In years past, the WEF has been known for its green focus, and this year, one of its key talking points is how companies can nurture “nature-positive business models.” But oil execs, including the CEOs of ExxonMobil and Shell, will likely be listening this year for Trump to promote his “drill, baby, drill” agenda.
Identity Crisis: Political scientist Samuel Huffington coined the phrase “Davos Man” in 2004, but WEF has become synonymous with the global elite, who aren’t much in favor these days. At the same time, the organization itself has undergone a major change that could affect how things are run. This year is BlackRock CEO Larry Fink’s first year at the WEF’s helm after longtime chair Klaus Schwab stepped down last spring.
