ZURICH, 26 February 2026 — The president and chief executive of the World Economic Forum, Borge Brende, said on Thursday he would step down, weeks after the Geneva-based body launched an independent investigation into his relationship with late U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Brende, who has led the WEF since 2017, announced his resignation in a statement following disclosures from the U.S. Justice Department showing he had three business dinners with Epstein and had communicated with him via email and text message.
“After careful consideration, I have decided to step down as President and CEO of the World Economic Forum. My time here, spanning 8-1/2 years, has been profoundly rewarding,” said Brende, a former Norwegian foreign minister.
The statement issued by the WEF did not mention Epstein. However, Brende told Norwegian media he regretted how he handled his dealings with Epstein and did not want the matter to distract from the forum’s work, including its annual Davos summit.
Brende has previously said he was unaware of Epstein’s criminal background before first meeting him in 2018 and regretted not investigating him more thoroughly.
An independent review conducted by outside counsel into Brende’s ties with Epstein has concluded and found no additional concerns beyond what had already been disclosed, said WEF co-chairs Andre Hoffmann and Larry Fink in a joint statement.
Brende told Norwegian business daily Dagens Næringsliv that although the review uncovered no new issues, the case risked overshadowing the forum’s broader mission.
“Like many others, I have felt a great deal of discomfort at being linked to Jeffrey Epstein, and I was afraid that the contact would be portrayed as something other than what it was. That is the honest answer,” Brende said.
Text messages from 2018 to 2019 released among the Epstein files suggested a friendly tone between the two men, including Brende describing Epstein as a “brilliant host” and writing “missing you Sir” following a dinner that included former Trump aide Steve Bannon and a former Norwegian government minister. Their last communication was a week before Epstein’s arrest in 2019.
The U.S. Justice Department has released more than three million pages of documents related to Epstein, who died by suicide in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. The revelations have placed scrutiny on a wide range of business and political figures, including U.S. President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton and Tesla chief executive Elon Musk.
WEF managing director Alois Zwinggi will serve as interim president and CEO while the forum’s Board of Trustees oversees the leadership transition and searches for a permanent successor.
Hoffmann, who is vice-chair of Roche, and Fink, chief executive of BlackRock, thanked Brende for his contributions.
“His dedication and leadership have been instrumental during a pivotal period of reforms for the organization, leading to a successful annual meeting in Davos,” they said.
Brende’s resignation follows last year’s departure of WEF founder and longstanding chair Klaus Schwab, after he faced whistleblower allegations of misconduct. The forum later said an internal investigation found no evidence of material wrongdoing by Schwab.
