World Economic Forum head steps down amid pressure over Epstein links – National | Globalnews.ca

World Economic Forum head Børge Brende mentioned Thursday that he’s stepping down after dealing with pressure over his contacts with the late intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Brende, a former Norwegian overseas minister, mentioned in an announcement that he had determined “after cautious consideration” to step down as president and chief govt of the discussion board, recognized for its annual January summit within the Swiss Alpine resort of Davos.

“I’m grateful for the unimaginable collaboration with my colleagues, companions, and constituents, and I imagine now could be the precise second for the Forum to proceed its necessary work with out distractions,” Brende mentioned in an announcement launched by the WEF.

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Brende was Norway’s overseas minister from 2013-2017 and is certainly one of a number of distinguished Norwegians who’ve confronted scrutiny following the newest launch of Epstein recordsdata.

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He didn’t refer on to that controversy in Thursday’s assertion, however the WEF introduced earlier this month that it was opening an inner evaluation into Brende to find out his relationship with Epstein after recordsdata indicated the 2 had dined collectively a number of instances and exchanged messages.

Brende instructed Norwegian broadcaster NRK on the time that he was cooperating with the investigation, that he solely met Epstein in enterprise settings and that he had been unaware of Epstein’s prison background.

WEF co-chairs André Hoffmann and Larry Fink mentioned in an announcement that “the unbiased evaluation carried out by exterior counsel has concluded. The findings said that there have been no further issues past what has been beforehand disclosed.”

They mentioned that Alois Zwinggi will function the discussion board’s interim president and CEO.