Like every good nightclub proprietor, Schwab realised that the illusion of demand creates yet more demand, so he artificially created scarcity: capping the number of businesses who could attend. No wonder the CEOs are thrilled to be there. “Their mere presence in Davos at the Forum signals their empathy and sensitivity,” writes Peter Goodman, New York Times economic correspondent and author of the book Davos Man.

For the Left, like Goodman, Davos Man is a neoliberal bogeyman, whose greed has opened the door for populists like Trump. For conservatives, Schwab’s “stakeholder capitalism” subverts both the market and a functioning democracy. And with the rise of social media, WEF has fed the appetite for conspiracy theories.

But in recent years, and particularly since the 2008 financial crash, Schwab’s creation has been beset by something worse: its own contradictions.

Stakeholder capitalism is no longer a case of hard up and impoverished NGOs pressing their noses against the glass, hoping to be included at the board room table. The tail now wags the dog. Billionaire donors like Michael Bloomberg and Chris Hohn provide an inexhaustible supply of funds. Meanwhile CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) blossomed into formal ESG (Environmental Social and Governance) requirements, where the behaviour of a corporation is ranked and rated. The opinion of advocates such as Blackrock’s Larry Fink, which controls $10.5 trillion of assets, matters a great deal, and CEOs continue to live in fear of the capricious ESG judgements.

Meanwhile WEF’s network of think tanks busy themselves with initiatives and technocratic solutions: toolkits and dashboards proliferate. While these no doubt meet the approval of Schwab, a trained economist and engineer, they gain almost no traction in the wider world.

WEF’s greatest goal has been responding to the rise of social media with its own viral clickbait content intended to stimulate discussion, but which resembles a shock-jock desperate for attention. The “Great Reset” is the most notorious example. But when was the last time you heard anyone even mention “The Fourth Industrial Revolution”? In a sign that being the focus of conspiracy theories might be detrimental to its corporate reputation, WEF’s most recent paper on “alternative proteins” doesn’t once mention insects. The annual themes have reflected an increasing self-awareness. Last year’s was “Cooperation in a Fragmented World”, and 2024’s  was “Rebuilding Trust”.

This year, 40% of the world votes in elections, and many voters are likely to choose conservative or Right-wing candidates, to Schwab’s horror. With Davos Man receding, it’s the perfect time for the original Davos Man to return to the shadows too.