World Economic Forum

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
980459408
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Cologny, Geneva, SZ
Phone
0228691212
Rating confidence
Limited
Sector
Research Institutes and Public Policy Analysis

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$528,837,504
Expenses
$516,366,612
Assets
$963,758,243
Liabilities
$448,761,572

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

56 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BORGE BRENDE (PRESIDENT OF MANAGING BOARD)
  • CHIEH HUANG (PRESIDENT GLOBAL COLL. VILLAGE)

Highest reported compensation

  • BORGE BRENDE (PRESIDENT OF MANAGING BOARD): $1,880,431 total reported compensation
  • KLAUS SCHWAB (FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN): $1,223,488 total reported compensation
  • JEREMY JURGENS (MANAGING DIRECTOR): $1,218,429 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. It engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

What it reported doing in 2024

Meetings the forum hosts a variety of meetings on an annual basis including the annual meeting in davos, an annual meeting of new champions in china, and multiple regional meetings around the world. The forum's annual meeting in davos is an internationally recognized event that brings together many of the world's top business leaders - including the ceo's of its 1,000 member companies - as well as political leaders, religious leaders, NGO representatives, intellectuals, and journalists. In addition, the forum hosts annual and regional meetings and organizes other meetings on various business-related topics.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 78% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

- The available evidence is not sufficient to produce an overall rating for this filing. This is not a warning sign.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: NotEnoughData
  • Transparency & Controls: 57
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 47
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: Limited
  • Program expense ratio: Limited
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 96.7%; rating input score 97; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 2.4%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.87; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.47; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.6%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.8% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: Financial trends and filed revenue, expense, asset, and liability detail
  • Governance: 29 of 30 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.9M · 56 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $984K reported
  • Consistency: 11 of 11 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 24 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 44/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 39/100.