The 46th annual World Economic Forum in Davos 20-23 January saw global political and business leaders meet to discuss topics around the overarching theme of ‘Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution’, as well as the effects of political, economical and social uncertainty on future policy making.
To coincide with the forum, the Financial Times published The World in 2016 and produced multimedia coverage with live blogging through The World and FT Alphaville; as well as a number of videos, Instagram updates, and in-depth analysis and comment.
FT journalists also featured in the World Economic Forum’s main programme, including:
- US managing editor Gillian Tett chaired a session on the future of financial services and the effect of digital currencies. The panel included Dan Schulman, CEO, PayPal, John Cryan, co-CEO, Deutsche Bank, James P. Gorman, chairman and CEO, Morgan Stanley, Tom de Swaan, chairman and CEO, Zurich and Christine Lagarde, managing director, International Monetary Fund.
- The following day FT editor Lionel Barber interviewed the head of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi on monetary policy and economic growth in the Eurozone.
- FT participation rounded off with chief economics commentator Martin Wolf leading a panel of distinguished guests on the global economic outlook with George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Haruhiko Kuroda, Governor of the Bank of Japan, Arun Jaitley, finance minister of India, Tidjane Thiam, CEO, Credit Suisse and Christine Lagarde.
For the seventh year running, the FT CNBC Davos Nightcap took place at the Steigenberger Grandhotel Belvédère. The event gathered 350 of the world’s most influential business leaders, government officials and economists, who enjoyed 1920s themed cocktails and canapés.
Hosted by FT CEO John Ridding and CNBC chairman Mark Hoffman, guests included JP Morgan CEO James Dimon; Ivan Glasenberg, CEO, Glencore; Professor Lynda Gratton, London Business School; Ajay Banga, CEO, MasterCard; Michael Corbat, CEO, Citigroup; Tony Fratto, Hamilton Strategies; Richard Edelman, CEO, Edelman; Becky Quick, anchor, CNBC; Andrew Ross Sorkin, Anchor, CNBC; Zanny Minton-Beddoes, editor, The Economist; Lord Mandelson, chairman, Global Counsel; Carolyn Everson, vice-president, Facebook; John Veihmeyer, chairman, KPMG; Sam Kass, former White House chef; Sarah Wynn-Willams, director of global policy, Facebook; Howard Lutnick, chairman and CEO, Cantor Fitzgerald; Klaus Kleinfeld, chairman and CEO, Alcoa; Daniel Loeb, CEO, Third Point; Stephen Schwarzman, chairman and CEO, Blackstone Group; Kathleen Lacey, senior managing director, Teneo Holdings; Adi Ignatius, editor-in-chief, Harvard Business Review Group; HH Prince Saud Al-Saud, chairman, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, Felix Salmon, senior editor, Fusion; John Studzinski, vice chairman, Blackstone Group; Gene Sperling, founder and CEO, Sperling Economic Strategies; Mark Ein, CEO, Venture House Group; and Jake Siewert, Chief of Staff, Goldman Sachs as well as FT journalists Lionel Barber, Gillian Tett and Martin Wolf.
Click here for photos from the FT CNBC Nightcap.
Elsewhere, Gillian Tett appeared on CNN International Quest Means Business. Martin Wolf was interviewed by Aljazeera English, Nikkei TV’s Plus 10 and CNBC’s Worldwide Express to discuss his views on the world economy and instability in the markets. Alphaville reporter, Izabella Kaminska appeared on BBC WS Business Matters to discuss whether robots, bio tech and other technologies will solve the world’s problems. She also spoke to BBC Radio 5 about the volatility in Chinese markets.
Gillian Tett also moderated a panel at Edelman’s annual Trust Barometer launch event alongside Olivier Brandicourt, CEO of Sanofi, Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of Oxfam International, Kenneth Rogoff, Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Public Policy and Professor of Economics, Harvard University and Dan Schulman, CEO of PayPal. They discussed the challenges facing business, government, NGOs and media, and the steps executives must take to maintain credibility and lead effectively.
FT Live hosted the FT/Wipro Executive Dinner, Man V. Machine: Does it have to be either/or?, chaired by Murad Ahmed, European technology correspondent. Panellists at the dinner included, T K Kurien, chief executive officer and member of the board at Wipro Ltd; David Cheesewright, president and chief executive officer, WalMart International; Erik Brynjolfsson director of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy; Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, chairman, Nestle Group; Ilhah R. Nourbaksh, professor of robotics, Carnegie Mellon; and Tim Brown, chief executive officer and president, IDEO.