The Davos conference for masters of the universe appears to be taking a decidely new age-y tack this year — highlighting the gender pay gap and LGBT rights.
The World Economic Forum website currently features a series exploring LGBT issues, with one article written by Microsoft’s Senior Director of Corporate Citizenship Dan Bross.
The official program includes sessions on climate change and the “Future of Forests.” Other sessions include “A Day in the Life of a Refugee,” and “Preparing for the Future of Gender Parity.”
Organizers are preparing to woo bank bosses, politicians and business executives with daily “Mindfulness Meditation” sessions — being offered for the first time.
Cellist Yo Yo Ma will serenade corporate titans over cocktail hour.
While the final attendee list is not yet final, the media and tech contingent on the preliminary list appears thin. No big media conglom bosses are on it. On the tech side, Michael Dell and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella are likely to attend.
Perhaps they would be interested in the session on Unicorns — that is, tech companies with a valuation of over $1 billion.
Troubled Yahoo! will be sending Chief Financial Officer Ken Goldman and Global Revenue Officer Lisa Utzschneider. The duo may end up rubbing shoulders with their advisors at Goldman Sachs. Other techies slated to attend include a gaggle from Google, including its head lawyer, Kent Walker; Marc Benioff of Salesforce and Alex Karp of Palantir Technologies.
Elliott Associates’ Paul Singer is slated to attend alongside fellow hedge fund mogul Bill Ackman, of Pershing Square, and private equity powerhouses like TPG’s David Bonderman and Blackstone Group’s Stephen Schwarzman. Ken Moelis of investment boutique, Moelis & Co., is also on the preliminary list.
“Fault in Our Stars” author John Green will be helming a session about understanding youngsters while Kevin Spacey will deliver the political intrigue about the fictional White House race happening on the Netflix show “House of Cards.”
But just to prove people in power are highly neurotic, Davos organizers are offering a session on Mass Extinction. “Explore how the phenomenon of disappearing species raises concerns about our own survival.”