<p>Every January a collection of the world’s top business and political leaders head to the Swiss town of Davos for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum. The event is a week of panels and networking meant to promote dialogue among elites. But a scandal last year threatened to overshadow the 2026 meeting, which begins in a few days. Critics have also questioned the event’s relevance in a changing world. The FT’s Switzerland and Austria correspondent, Mercedes Ruehl, explains the problems the WEF has faced and shares her reporting on how this year’s event is shaping up.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><br><p>Clips from the World Economic Forum, Instagram: @christinelagarde</p><br><p>The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.</p><br><p>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -&nbsp;</p><br><p><strong>For further reading:</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.ft.com/content/97e2dbea-8781-4e0e-99d7-ccb50b883f43" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Microsoft and McKinsey pay up to $1mn each to back Donald Trump’s Davos hub</a><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.ft.com/content/0c49ccca-c085-4fb6-a774-92954951103f" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Davos assured Trump ‘woke’ topics were off the agenda</a></p><p><a href="https://www.ft.com/content/8f7dcf0e-ec4c-4643-9d95-d2a1b2fdea09" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Davos set in decline: can the World Economic Forum save itself?</a></p><p><a href="https://www.ft.com/content/64533727-a342-4e35-9eab-4f6010d13cef" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">‘A family enterprise’: WEF founder Klaus Schwab on alleged wrongdoing at Davos</a>&nbsp;</p><br><p>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -&nbsp;</p><br><p>Follow Mercedes Ruehl on X (<a href="https://x.com/mjruehl?lang=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@mjruehl</a>), or on Bluesky (<a href="https://bsky.app/profile/mjruehl.bsky.social" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@mjruehl.bsky.social</a>)&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ft.com/michela-tindera" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Michela Tindera</a> is on X (<a href="https://twitter.com/mtindera07" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@mtindera07</a>) and Bluesky (<a href="https://bsky.app/profile/mtindera.ft.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@mtindera.ft.com</a>), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more.&nbsp;</p><br><p><a href="https://www.ft.com/content/f48122d1-4707-4441-984c-e0f1e3cdf7b4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com</strong></a></p><p><br></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>