The president of the World Economic Forum (WEF), Børge Brende, has resigned due to a review that showed he and the former child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein met multiple times and exchanged texts and emails.Brende, who before becoming president of the WEF was the Norwegian foreign minister, had previously denied any relationship with Epstein, but the files released by the US Department of Justice showed he had dined with Epstein on three occasions between 2018 and 2019, well after his criminality would have been widely known.Despite this, Brende claims that he was unaware of Epstein's criminal background and denies ever seeing or engaging in any illegal activity.He had been president of the WEF for the last eight and a half years, since October of 2017.In files released by the DOJ, an email exchange between Epstein and Steve Bannon seems to suggest that soon after he was nominated as WEF president, he joined Epstein for dinner at his house."The Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab, announced today that the Board of Trustees of the Forum has nominated Børge Brende, to the new role of President of the World Economic Forum. steve berge will be at my house thrusday for dinner , jaans of course you are welcome," the email from Epstein to Bannon reads..Brende released a statement about his resignation, saying that "after careful consideration, I have decided to step down as president and chief executive of the World Economic Forum.""I extend my deepest thanks to the Co-Chairs, André Hoffmann and Larry Fink, for their unwavering support and partnership," the statement reads.Hoffmann and Fink also included a statement in which they thank Brende for his work as president and say that they "respect his decision to step down."There was no mention of Epstein in either statements.During their review the WEF said that "there were no additional concerns beyond what has been previously disclosed," seeming to say that Brende had not engaged in any illicit activities.Alois Zwinggi, a member of the WEF managing board, has been named interim president and CEO after Brende's resignation.
