World Economic Forum Founder Reportedly Busted For Luxury Spending, Creepy Behavior

World Economic Forum (WEF) founder Klaus Schwab made unauthorized purchases for expenses and behaved inappropriately toward female colleagues during his time at the organization, according to an internal probe reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Investigators found that the 87-year-old professor spent WEF funds on expenses such as hotel massages and made the WEF into a “fiefdom” for his personal gain, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. The probe’s scathing preliminary findings deepen the rift between Schwab and his Switzerland-based organization, which is known for hosting panels featuring international elites to discuss how to advance policy priorities such as combating “disinformation” and climate change.

The probe labeled more than $1.1 million in purchases by Schwab and his wife using WEF funds as suspicious, The Wall Street Journal reported. The expenses included first-class flights for trips in which his wife had no business role, 14 hotel massages and trips to places like Venice, Italy, that appeared to have no business purpose. Schwab’s spokesperson told the outlet that he always asked to be billed for massages, but the WEF reportedly said he ended up paying for about half of them.

Schwab and his wife also allegedly received luxury gifts such as custom Tiffany cufflinks and Russian tea sets in violation of WEF policies. Schwab’s spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal that he donated most of the gifts in question to charity or displayed them at the WEF’s headquarters.