A major international financial body has been accused of rigging data in order to make Brexit seem like a failure.
Klaus Schwab, 87, the founder of the World Economic Forum (WEF), is alleged to have asked staff to lower the UK’s standing in a table ranking countries’ economic productivity, the Financial Times reported.
Published annually, the WEF’s 2017/2018 Global Competitiveness Report should have shown the UK jumping from seventh to forth due to a change in how the data was presented, according to a leak published by Swiss newpaper SonntagsZeitung.
But instead the final table showed Britain falling one position to eight place.
‘Brexit… will by definition weaken the UK’s markets component,’ the report said.
It is alleged the reason for the supposed revised ranking was a direct intervention from Mr Schwab.
The Swiss newspaper reported that he wrote to staff to say that the UK ‘must not see any improvement’ as such results would be ‘exploited by the Brexit camp’ to claim the UK’s departure from the EU was a success.
The World Economic Forum is an international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Geneva, Switzerland, which hosts the annual ‘Davos’ summit which attracts high-profile figures from the world of politics, business and showbusiness each year.
It was founded in January 1971 by Mr Schwab, initially as the European Management Forum, before being rebranded as the WEF in 1987.
World Economic Forum founder and former chairman Klaus Schwab attends a session during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 21, 2025
Brexit supporters dressed in Union flag-themed clothes, pose for a photograph as they wait for the festivities to begin in Parliament Square, the venue for the Leave Means Leave Brexit Celebration in central London on January 31, 2020, the day that the UK formally leaves the European Union
Klaus Schwab is pictured speaking with Britain’s King Charles
Mr Schwab is also accused of submitting personal expenses to the tune of £835,000 that was not sufficiently linked to his duties at the WEF, where he stood down as chairman in April this year.
Additionally there are claims that he made inappropriate remarks to younger members of staff.
The spate of allegations against him stem from an internal Forum probe launched following complaints made by a whistleblower.
The investigation was conducted by Homburger, a law firm in Zurich.
News of the UK’s alleged changed ranking was met with fury by some of the key figures behind the Brexit campaign.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage told The Telegraph: ‘Every conspiracy theory about Klaus Schwab now turns out to be true. He is a dangerous globalist manipulator.’
Shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel added: ‘For such a senior figure in geopolitical affairs to have conspired and manipulated information against Brexit and the democratic outcome of a political process is a stain on the reputation of the WEF and those who are part of that forum, and it is thoroughly unacceptable.’
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage called Mr Schwab, whose organisation hosts the annual Davos summit, ‘a dangerous globalist manipulator’
US President Donald Trump, left, speaks with Klaus Schwab, chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF)
Davos, Switzerland, is pictured. WEF holds an annual summit in the Swiss Alpine region
In a statement on Sunday, Mr Schwab said he felt ‘deceived’ since he claimed to have cooperated with the inquiry on the basis that neither side would speak to the media.
‘I feel deceived,’ Mr Schwab said. ‘I am not available for further investigations.’
Interviews conducted amid the probe into his behaviour reportedly found that Schwab repeatedly used fear and intimidation to manipulate WEF employees and treated the organisation like a ‘fiefdom’, while making ‘suggestive’ remarks to a senior female executive.
The findings also allege Schwab and his wife Hilde, 79, reportedly filed more than $1 million in travel expenses deemed questionable by investigators, along with several foreign trips seemingly unrelated to business.
Founded by Schwab in 1971 as the European Management Forum, WEF began as a small gathering aimed at improving European business by enlisting the support of successful American corporations.
Over the decades, it has transformed into a high-profile annual summit in Davos, Switzerland, where CEOs, leading entrepreneurs and minds from various sectors converge to debate the world’s biggest challenges, from climate change and technological disruption to geopolitical instability and inequality.
It has also been harshly criticised as a symbol of globalisation and an exclusive club for the wealthy and powerful that exercises outsized power over policymakers.
The World Economic Forum have been approached for comment.
