Following the World Economic Forum (WEF) announcement to appoint interim co-chairs, much of the public focus has been on BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, but not so much on Andre Hoffmann, who is a Swiss billionaire and heir to the fifth largest pharmaceutical company on the planet, Roche.
With last April’s departure of Klaus Schwab from the board of trustees of the organization he founded over 50 years ago, the WEF briefly appointed former Nestle CEO Peter Brabeck-Letmathe as interim chairman.
Fast forward four months to August 15, 2025, and the WEF introduced two new interim co-chairs, billionaires Larry Fink and Andre Hoffmann.
“We believe the Forum can serve as a unique catalyst for cooperation, one that fosters trust, identifies shared goals, and turns dialogue into action.” — Larry Fink & Andre Hoffmann, WEF, August 2025
With an estimated net worth of $1.3 billion, Fink is the CEO of the largest asset management company in the world, BlackRock, managing some $11.6 trillion in assets.
And with an estimated net worth of $8.13 billion, Hoffmann is the vice chairman of F. Hoffmann-La Roche, the fifth largest pharmaceutical company by revenue in the world, just behind Pfizer.
Together, Fink and Hoffmann issued a statement saying that “the need for a platform that brings together business, government, and civil society has never been greater,” and that they “believe the Forum can serve as a unique catalyst for cooperation, one that fosters trust, identifies shared goals, and turns dialogue into action.”
The WEF leadership page says that in their work on the board of trustees, “members do not represent any personal or professional interests.”
However, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the business dealings of the new interim co-chairs align with multiple WEF agendas, from net zero and ESG to stakeholder capitalism and the U.N. Agenda 2030.
Hellbound and Down 