When the world’s most powerful people gather in Stockholm, it happens without an audience, without the press, and without protocol. The Bilderberg meeting is back – and this time with more Swedish participants than ever before.
The infamous Bilderberg meeting – an annual and strictly closed power conference where the world’s most influential people from politics, business, and the media gather – is in full swing at the Grand Hôtel in Stockholm.
The meeting began on Thursday evening and will continue until Sunday. A total of 114 Western leaders are participating, including nine Swedes, four Finns, four Norwegians and two Danes.
Critics see Sweden’s greatly increased participation as a symptom of an increasingly isolated power culture, where crucial discussions are held behind closed doors – far from open debates and even further from public scrutiny.
The Bilderberg meeting has long been known for its secrecy.
Discussions take place in secret and under the so-called Chatham House rule, which means that participants may use the information they receive, but never reveal to outsiders who said what. This lack of transparency has attracted repeated criticism and fueled speculation about what is actually decided in this closed network, where the people have no opportunity to hear what is said.
“Participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s) nor of any other participant may be revealed”, it states.
Oligarchs and political leaders
The Swedish delegation consists of some of the most influential people in the country. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M), opposition leader Magdalena Andersson (S), and Minister of Energy and Business Ebba Busch (KD) represent the political elite. From the business world, the oligarch brothers Jacob and Marcus Wallenberg – two of the key figures in Sweden’s most powerful financial dynasty – are participating. In addition, Oscar Stenström, former NATO negotiator and now advisor to the Wallenberg sphere, is also involved in the event.
Other Swedish participants include Martin Lundstedt, CEO of the Volvo Group, Micael Johansson, CEO of arms manufacturer Saab, Spotify founder Daniel Ek, and EQT chairman Conni Jonsson.
In addition to the Swedes, several international leaders are on the list of participants. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, and former Prime Minister Sanna Marin are among the political figures. From the media and tech world, journalist Anne Applebaum, billionaire and Palantir founder Peter Thiel, and the company’s CEO Alex Karp – known for supplying surveillance technology to both intelligence agencies and the military – are participating.
The US dominates the meeting with 29 participants, followed by France with 12. Fifty-seven people, including Swedes Daniel Ek and Marcus Wallenberg, also attended last year’s meeting in Madrid. Among the 114 participants this year are 27 women.
No one knows what will be discussed
According to the organizers, this year’s agenda includes topics such as the war in Ukraine, the Middle East, the US economy, AI, national security, and defense innovation. The list also includes “depopulation and migration”, critical minerals, and geopolitics – topics with a direct impact on global politics, economics, and technology. But since no minutes are taken and no independent review takes place, it is impossible to know what is actually being discussed, what interests are at play, or whether any agreements are reached.
For decades, the Bilderberg meeting has been subject to harsh criticism because of its closed nature and total lack of democratic transparency. Critics argue that it serves as a forum where the world’s most powerful people can coordinate their agendas – without journalists, without accountability and far from the public eye.
However, the organization itself claims that it sees the event as a space for “informal discussions on major issues” and argues that its private nature allows for frank conversations:
“Thanks to the private nature of the Meeting, the participants take part as individuals rather than in any official capacity, and hence are not bound by the conventions of their office or by pre-agreed positions. As such, they can take time to listen, reflect and gather insights”, it claims.
Confirmed participants – full list:
Abrams, Stacey (USA), CEO, Sage Works Production
Albuquerque, Maria Luís (INT), European Commissioner Financial Services and the Savings and Investments Union
Alcázar Benjumea, Diego del (ESP), CEO, IE University
Alverà, Marco (ITA), Co-Founder, zhero.net; CEO TES
Andersson, Magdalena (SWE), Leader, Social Democratic Party
Applebaum, Anne (USA), Staff Writer, The Atlantic
Attal, Gabriel (FRA), Former Prime Minister
Auchincloss, Murray (CAN), CEO, BP plc
Baker, James H. (USA), Former Director, Office of Net Assessment, Department of Defense
Barbizet, Patricia (FRA), Chair and CEO, Temaris & Associés SAS
Barroso, José Manuel (PRT), Chair International Advisors, Goldman Sachs International
Baudson, Valérie (FRA), CEO, Amundi SA
Beleza, Leonor (PRT), President, Champalimaud Foundation
Birol, Fatih (INT), Executive Director, International Energy Agency
Botín, Ana (ESP), Group Executive Chair, Banco Santander SA
Bourla, Albert (USA), Chair and CEO, Pfizer Inc.
Brende, Børge (NOR), President, World Economic Forum
Brunner, Magnus (INT), European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration
Brzoska, Rafal (POL), CEO, InPost SA
Busch, Ebba (SWE), Minister for Energy, Business and Industry
Caine, Patrice (FRA), Chair & CEO, Thales Group
Calviño, Nadia (INT), President, European Investment Bank
Castries, Henri de (FRA), President, Institut Montaigne
Chambers, Jack (IRL), Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Reform and Digitalisation
Champagne, François-Philippe (CAN), Minister of Finance and National Revenue
Clark, Jack (USA), Co-Founder & Head of Policy, Anthropic PBC
Crawford, Kate (USA), Professor and Senior Principal Researcher, USC and Microsoft Research
Donahue, Christopher (USA), Commander, US Army Europe and Africa
Donohoe, Paschal (INT), President, Eurogroup; Minister of Finance
Döpfner, Mathias (DEU), Chair and CEO, Axel Springer SE
Eberstadt, Nicholas N. (USA), Henry Wendt Scholar in Political Economy, AEI
Ek, Daniel (SWE), CEO, Spotify SA
Ekholm, Börje (SWE), CEO, Ericsson Group
Eriksen, Øyvind (NOR), President and CEO, Aker ASA
Feltri, Stefano (ITA), Journalist
Fentener van Vlissingen, Annemiek (NLD), Chair, SHV Holdings NV
Fraser, Jane (USA), CEO, Citigroup
Freeland, Chrystia (CAN), Minister of Transport and Internal Trade
Friedman, Thomas L. (USA), Foreign Affairs Columnist, The New York Times
Gabuev, Alexander (INT), Director, Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center
Hammer, Kristina (AUT), President, Salzburg Festival
Harrington, Kevin (USA), Senior Director for Strategic Planning, NSC
Hassabis, Demis (GBR), Co-Founder and CEO, Google DeepMind
Hedegaard, Connie (DNK), Chair, KR Foundation
Heinrichs, Rebeccah (USA), Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute
Heraty, Anne (IRL), Chair, Sherry Fitzgerald ana IBEC
Herlin, Jussi (FIN), Vice Chair, KONE Corporation
Hernández de Cos, Pablo (ESP), General Manager Elect, Bank for International Settlements
Hobson, Mellody (USA), Co-CEO and President, Ariel Investments LLC
Hoekstra, Wopke (INT), European Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth
Hunt, Jeremy (GBR), Member of Parliament
Isla, Pablo (ESP), Vice-Chair, Nestlé SA
Johansson, Micael (SWE), President and CEO, Saab AB
Jonsson, Conni (SWE), Founder and Chair, EQT Group
Karp, Alex (USA), CEO, Palantir Technologies Inc.
Klingbeil, Lars (DEU), Vice-Chancellor; Minister of Finance
Klöckner, Julia (DEU), President Bundestag
Kostrzewa, Wojciech (POL), President, Polish Business Roundtable
Kotkin, Stephen (USA), Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
Kratsios, Michael (USA), Director, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
Kravis, Henry R. (USA), Co-Founder and Co-Executive Chair, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
Kudelski, André (CHE), Chair and CEO, Kudelski Group SA
Kuleba, Dmytro (UKR), Adjunct Professor, Sciences Po
Leeuwen, Geoffrey van (INT), Director Private Office of the Secretary General, NATO
Lemierre, Jean (FRA), Chair, BNP Paribas
Letta, Enrico (ITA), Dean, IE School of Politics, Economics & Global Affairs
Leysen, Thomas (BEL), Chair, dsm-firmenich AG
Lighthizer, Robert (USA), Chair, Center for American Trade
Liikanen, Erkki (FIN), Chair, IFRS Foundation Trustees
Lundstedt, Martin (SWE), CEO, Volvo Group
Marin, Sanna (FIN), Strategic Counsellor, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change
McGrath, Michael (INT), European Commissioner for Democracy, Justice and the Rule of Law
Mensch, Arthur (FRA), Co-Founder and CEO, Mistral AI
Micklethwait, John (USA), Editor-in-Chief, Bloomberg LP
Minton Beddoes, Zanny (GBR), Editor-in-Chief, The Economist
Mitsotakis, Kyriakos (GRC), Prime Minister
Monti, Mario (ITA), Senator for life
Moore, Richard (GBR), Chief, Secret Intelligence Service
Nadella, Satya (USA), CEO, Microsoft Corporation
Netherlands, H.M. the King of the (NLD),
O’Leary, Michael (IRL), Group CEO, Ryanair Group
Ollongren, Kajsa (NLD), Fellow, Chatham House; Senior Fellow, GLOBSEC
Özyeğin, Murat (TUR), Chair, Fiba Group
Papalexopoulos, Dimitri (GRC), Chair, TITAN S.A.
Paparo, Samuel (USA), Commander, US Indo-Pacific Command
Philippe, Édouard (FRA), Mayor, Le Havre
Pouyanné, Patrick (FRA), Chair and CEO, TotalEnergies SE
Prokopenko, Alexandra (INT), Fellow, Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center
Rachman, Gideon (GBR), Chief Foreign Affairs Commentator, Financial Times
Rappard, Rolly van (NLD), Co-Founder and Chair, CVC Capital Partners
Reiche, Katherina (DEU), Minister of Economic Affairs and Energy
Ringstad Vartdal, Birgitte (NOR), CEO, Statkraft AS
Roche, Nicolas (FRA), Secretary General, General Secretariat for Defence and National Security
Rutte, Mark (INT), Secretary General, NATO
Salvi, Diogo (PRT), Co-Founder and CEO, TIMWE
Sawers, John (GBR), Executive Chair, Newbridge Advisory Ltd.
Scherf, Gundbert (DEU), Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Helsing GmbH
Schimpf, Brian (USA), Co-Founder & CEO, Anduril Industries
Schmidt, Eric E. (USA), Executive Chair and CEO, Relativity Space Inc
Schmidt, Wolfgang (DEU), Former Federal Minister for Special Tasks, Head of the Chancellery
Šefčovič, Maroš (INT), European Commissioner Trade and Economic Security; Interinstitutional Relations and Transparency
Sewing, Christian (DEU), CEO, Deutsche Bank AG
Sikorski, Radoslaw (POL), Minister of Foreign Affairs
Şimşek, Mehmet (TUR), Minister of Finance
Smith, Jason (USA), Member of Congress
Stoltenberg, Jens (NOR), Minister of Finance
Streeting, Wes (GBR), Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Stubb, Alexander (FIN), President of the Republic
Suleyman, Mustafa (USA), CEO, Microsoft AI
Summers, Lawrence (USA), Charles W. Eliot University Professor, Harvard University
Thiel, Peter (USA), President, Thiel Capital LLC
Toulemon, Laurent (FRA), Senior Researcher, INED
Uggla, Robert (DNK), Chair, A.P. Møller-Maersk A/S
Valentini, Valentino (ITA), Deputy Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy
Vassy, Luis (FRA), Director, Sciences Po
Verhoeven, Karel (BEL), Editor-in-Chief, De Standaard
Wallenberg, Jacob (SWE), Chair, Investor AB
Wallenberg, Marcus (SWE), Chair, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB
Weder di Mauro, Beatrice (CHE), President, Centre for Economic Policy Research
Weel, David van (NLD), Minister of Justice and Security
Wilmès, Sophie (INT), Vice-President, European Parliament
Zakaria, Fareed (USA), Host, Fareed Zakaria GPS
Zeiler, Gerhard (AUT), President, Warner Bros. Discovery International
INT is used instead of the country code to indicate that a participant represents an international organization or has a cross-border role.
