--- description: Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum, sat down with TIME to discuss a sweeping vision for a rapidly changing world. title: Klaus Schwab, Founder of the World Economic Forum, Talks Change and Progress image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba5a921768f6fd8e/698943a886f68e7e9d6eb331/klaus-schwab-wef.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Jan 20, 2019 # 'We Are All Stakeholders of Our Global Future': Klaus Schwab, Founder of the World Economic Forum, Talks Change and Progress by [Alejandro de la Garza](/author/alejandro-de-la-garza/) ## Alejandro de la Garza Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum Klaus Schwab gives a press conference ahead of the 2019 World Economic Forum on January 15, 2019 in Geneva. Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum Klaus Schwab gives a press conference ahead of the 2019 World Economic Forum on January 15, 2019 in Geneva.Getty Images Klaus Schwab, founder of the [World Economic Forum](http://time.com/5503080/world-economic-forum-davos-trump-delegation/ "undefined"), sat down with TIME to discuss a sweeping vision for a rapidly changing world ahead of this year’s summit, which will begin in Davos, Switzerland on Tuesday. “Big issues in the world cannot be solved by governments alone,” Schwab said, speaking with TIME Editor-in-Chief and CEO [Edward Felsenthal](http://time.com/5444787/edward-felsenthal-ceo-editor-time/ "undefined") and National Correspondent [Haley Sweetland Edwards](http://time.com/author/haley-sweetland-edwards/ "undefined") in December. Decades ago, Schwab helped define “stakeholder theory,” which holds that businesses are not only responsible to their shareholders, but also to the wider array of “stakeholders” – employees, governments, customers and others – that it impacts. “Business has a big role to play. Civil Society has a big role to play. So we are all stakeholders of our global future,” he said. For Schwab, securing the future requires that we embrace change, rather than shy away from it. “What today I think is dividing society is the gap between those who embrace change, who look forward, who have a constructive approach to life, who know that we have to adapt our institutions, and those who want to retreat to a ‘good old world,’ which in practice doesn’t anymore exist,” he said Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum Talks Progress ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/davos-2019/5508187/klaus-schwab-world-economic-forum-time/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/davos-2019/5508187/klaus-schwab-world-economic-forum-time/"},"headline":"Klaus Schwab, Founder of the World Economic Forum, Talks Change and Progress","datePublished":"2019-01-20T17:57:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:29:30.159Z","description":"Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum, sat down with TIME to discuss a sweeping vision for a rapidly changing world.","url":"https://time.com/collections/davos-2019/5508187/klaus-schwab-world-economic-forum-time/","keywords":["Switzerland","Davos","World Economic Forum","onetime","Davos 2019"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba5a921768f6fd8e/698943a886f68e7e9d6eb331/klaus-schwab-wef.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alejandro de la Garza","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alejandro-de-la-garza/"}],"creator":"Alejandro de la Garza","articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba5a921768f6fd8e/698943a886f68e7e9d6eb331/klaus-schwab-wef.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/switzerland/","name":"Switzerland"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/davos-2019/5508187/klaus-schwab-world-economic-forum-time/","name":"Klaus Schwab, Founder of the World Economic Forum, Talks Change and Progress"}}]}] ```