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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="462" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107361577-1705660158507-gettyimages-1936270101-DAVOS_WEF_2024-820x462.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-448185" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107361577-1705660158507-gettyimages-1936270101-DAVOS_WEF_2024-820x462.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107361577-1705660158507-gettyimages-1936270101-DAVOS_WEF_2024-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107361577-1705660158507-gettyimages-1936270101-DAVOS_WEF_2024-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107361577-1705660158507-gettyimages-1936270101-DAVOS_WEF_2024-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107361577-1705660158507-gettyimages-1936270101-DAVOS_WEF_2024.jpeg 929w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Alex Soros, chairman of Open Society Foundations, during a panel session on the closing day of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024. The annual Davos gathering of political leaders, top executives and celebrities runs from January 15 to 19. Photographer: Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg via Getty Images Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



“In Davos, Donald Trump is already the president,” Open Society Foundations Chairman Alex Soros told a panel at the World Economic Forum on Friday.



“That’s a good thing, because the Davos consensus is always wrong,” he went on.



The prospect of Trump, who is frontrunner to gain the Republican nomination in the upcoming election, winning a second term in the White House has been a hot topic at the gathering of political and business leaders in Switzerland this week.



Trump faces 91 felony counts across numerous criminal cases relating to his attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat, mishandling of classified documents and hush-money payments to a porn star. Yet many U.S. business executives still believe he will beat President Joe Biden, should the two face off in the 2024 race, as anticipated.



“Donald Trump owns the Republican Party. We’re in something I like to call the Trump cycle, because I think even if — and I believe, if the institutions hold, when — he loses this election, he’ll also be the Republican candidate in 2028 and maybe even 2032 as well,” Soros said, drawing a ripple of laughter from attendees.



“What’s the way out for him? He either winds up in prison or he winds up in power, he’s not going off on some beach somewhere and retiring.”



Most polling in recent months has put Trump ahead of Biden across key swing states, though numbers published last week by Redfield &amp; Wilton Strategies, in partnership with The Telegraph, showed those leads narrowing in Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.



Soros insisted that the incumbent president still has a “pretty good map,” and backed Biden to hold onto Arizona and Georgia, where he claimed the particular brand of “extremism” promoted by Trump and his allies is considered “really toxic” to many voters.



“But, actually, if you want to look at one state which will really test where the election is, it’s Wisconsin, because if Joe Biden’s able to win Wisconsin, it should mean that he’s won Pennsylvania and Michigan,” added Soros, son of billionaire philanthropist and Open Society Foundations founder George Soros.



“Biden actually has a particular advantage in a polarized electoral environment which is that he’s not polarizing.”

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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="462" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107360862-1705572691213-gettyimages-1246324363-AFP_337B8F4-820x462.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-447870" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107360862-1705572691213-gettyimages-1246324363-AFP_337B8F4-820x462.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107360862-1705572691213-gettyimages-1246324363-AFP_337B8F4-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107360862-1705572691213-gettyimages-1246324363-AFP_337B8F4-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107360862-1705572691213-gettyimages-1246324363-AFP_337B8F4-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107360862-1705572691213-gettyimages-1246324363-AFP_337B8F4.jpeg 929w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Participants walk in the street of the Alpine resort of Davos during the World Economic Forum. Fabrice Coffrini | Afp | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Davos, SWITZERLAND — China returned to Davos in full force this week as it attempts to thaw relations with the international community and court investment following years of Covid-19 lockdowns and rising geopolitical tensions.



A delegation led by Chinese Premier Li Qiang is estimated to be the largest since 2017, when President Xi Jinping led an 80-strong cohort of Chinese business leaders and billionaires up the Swiss mountain.



Addressing the forum Tuesday, Li, China’s second in command, said the country was open for business, seemingly downplaying a recent crackdown on private industry which has spooked investors and prompted hefty outflows of foreign cash.



“Choosing investment in the Chinese market is not a risk, but an opportunity,”&nbsp;he said.



Li went on to meet for lunch with a host of top business leaders, including the CEOs of JPMorgan, Bank of America, Standard Chartered and Blackstone. Also present was the governor of the People’s Bank of China.



He was joined by several other high ranking ministerial representatives including the Deputy Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu and Commerce Minister Wang Wentao.



Outside the main congress center, one group of Chinese delegates CNBC spoke to said they were attending for a broad brush of issues including “finance and trade and commerce.”



“It’s a great time to tell the China story,” another Chinese tech executive said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-raising-concerns-in-washington"><a></a>Raising concerns in Washington</h2>



The amped up Chinese presence has reportedly ruffled feathers in Washington amid U.S. concerns about Beijing’s growing global influence.



A U.S. State Department document dated Jan. 12 said that “10 state ministers” would be included in Beijing’s Davos delegation, prompting the White House to step up its charm offensive, according to Politico.



The document dubbed the presence a “pseudo state visit,” with the Chinese delegation also expected to meet with Swiss counterparts in the capital, Bern, later in the week. In response, the schedule of Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, also attending Davos, was reportedly updated to include a meeting with Swiss officials.



The State Department did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment on Blinken’s amended agenda.



It comes as relations between the U.S. and China have grown increasingly fractured amid national security concerns and rising geopolitical tensions, particularly over Taiwan and Russia. That has prompted Washington to embark on a “de-risking” strategy, including curbing trade of some critical technologies.



Li, in his keynote address, pushed back against the move, saying that tech innovations should not be used as a way to restrict or contain other countries.



“To keep the competition healthy and bring out the greatest vitality, the only way is to enhance cooperation,” he said.



The comments speak to the confliction other countries face, including Switzerland and Europe more broadly, in picking alliances in the standoff between the world’s two largest economies. Europe, a close ally of the U.S., is equally aware of how important the Chinese market is for its domestic companies.



Still, confidence in China has been knocked by the country’s prolonged and stringent Covid lockdowns, as well as its broader clampdown on key industries, including Big Tech.



Notably, Xi’s 2017 entourage included Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, and Wang Jianlin, chairman of property developer Dalian Wanda, both of whom have since fallen out of favor with Chinese authorities amid a clampdown on private business and a collapse in the country’s property market.



As a result, Chinese firms are now investing more abroad than foreign firms are investing in China. Foreign investors withdrew $12 billion from China in the third quarter of 2023. Meanwhile, international investors have withdrawn around $25 billion from the Chinese stock market since August 2023.



Ian Bremmer, president and found of the Eurasia Group, said that China’s increased Davos presence indicated that Xi acknowledges the challenges Beijing now faces in re-establishing its reputation on the international stage.



“It’s necessary for a country that’s underperforming economically in a big way,” Bremmer told Semafor.



“Xi recognizes it; [it] implies better managed relations for the West with China at least in the near term,” he added.



The World Economic Forum did not respond to a CNBC request for confirmation on the number of Chinese delegates in attendance.

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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107360116-1705494590400-gettyimages-1927703757-AFP_34F2246-820x461.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-447525" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107360116-1705494590400-gettyimages-1927703757-AFP_34F2246-820x461.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107360116-1705494590400-gettyimages-1927703757-AFP_34F2246-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107360116-1705494590400-gettyimages-1927703757-AFP_34F2246-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107360116-1705494590400-gettyimages-1927703757-AFP_34F2246-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107360116-1705494590400-gettyimages-1927703757-AFP_34F2246-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107360116-1705494590400-gettyimages-1927703757-AFP_34F2246.jpeg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Austrian Marlene Engelhorn, who inherited from her family who owns the Germany’s chemical giant BASF, poses with a placard reading “Tax the rich!” at the entrance of the Congress center on the opening of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, on January 15, 2024. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP) (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images) Fabrice Coffrini | Afp | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



More than 250 billionaires and millionaires on Wednesday reiterated their call on elected representatives of the world’s leading economies to introduce higher taxes on the very richest in society.



In an open letter to political leaders gathered at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the rich signatories said they wished to deliver a clear message: “Tax our extreme wealth.”



“We are surprised that you have failed to answer a simple question that we have been asking for three years: when will you tax extreme wealth?” the letter said.



“Our request is simple: we ask you to tax us, the very richest in society. This will not fundamentally alter our standard of living, nor deprive our children, nor harm our nations’ economic growth. But it will turn extreme and unproductive private wealth into an investment for our common democratic future.”



The signatories of the letter, entitled “Proud To Pay More,” span 17 countries and include Disney heir Abigail Disney, screenwriter Simon Pegg and Valerie Rockefeller, an heir to the famed U.S. family.



It comes shortly after Oxfam said that the five richest men globally have more than doubled their vast wealth since 2020 and warned that the world could have its first trillionaire within a decade.



At the same time, the charity said on Monday that, if the current trends persist, poverty will not be eradicated for another 229 years.



“Billionaires are wielding their extreme wealth to accumulate political power and influence, simultaneously undermining democracy and the global economy,” said Brian Cox, a signatory to the Proud to Pay More letter and an actor who played fictional billionaire Logan Roy in HBO’s “Succession.”



“It’s long past time to act. If our elected officials refuse to address this concentration of money and power, the consequences will be dire,” Cox added.



A new poll conducted by Survation on behalf of “Patriotic Millonaires”, which was published alongside the open letter, found that some of the world’s wealthiest people support higher taxes on their income.



The survey polled over 2,300 respondents in wealthy G20 nations who each hold more than $1 million in investable assets, excluding their homes. These assets put them among the richest 5%.



The survey found that 74% of respondents back higher taxes on wealth to address the cost-of-living crisis and to improve public services, while three quarters of respondents support a 2% wealth tax on billionaires, and more than half (54%) think that extreme wealth concentration is a threat to democracy.



“Throughout history, pitchforks were the inevitable consequence of extreme discontent, but today, the masses are turning to populism, which is on the rise throughout the world. It is happening here,” Abigail Disney said in a statement.



“We already know the solution to protect our institutions and stabilize our country: it’s taxing extreme wealth. What we lack is the political fortitude to do it. Even millionaires and billionaires like me are saying it’s time. The elites gathering in Davos must take this crisis seriously,” she added.

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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="546" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107279979-1690906950125-gettyimages-1569404479-Omarques_01082023_techPOL_3_of_21-820x546.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-447487" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107279979-1690906950125-gettyimages-1569404479-Omarques_01082023_techPOL_3_of_21-820x546.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107279979-1690906950125-gettyimages-1569404479-Omarques_01082023_techPOL_3_of_21-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107279979-1690906950125-gettyimages-1569404479-Omarques_01082023_techPOL_3_of_21-135x90.jpeg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107279979-1690906950125-gettyimages-1569404479-Omarques_01082023_techPOL_3_of_21-768x511.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107279979-1690906950125-gettyimages-1569404479-Omarques_01082023_techPOL_3_of_21-1536x1022.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107279979-1690906950125-gettyimages-1569404479-Omarques_01082023_techPOL_3_of_21-scaled.jpeg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: via CNBC</figcaption></figure>



The new artificial intelligence era represents a huge moment for the tech industry that has not been seen in a decade, according to a top executive at Facebook parent company Meta Platforms.



Reflecting on 2024, Nicola Mendelsohn, head of global business group at Meta, said it was important to talk about the potential for AI as a force for good, while also paying mind to the dangers of the technology.



“This is a seismic moment,” Mendelsohn said, in conversation with CNBC’s Tania Bryer at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “We will look back on this year seeing a really pivotal year in terms of how it was across society.”



In her role at Meta, Mendelsohn leads relationships with top marketers and agencies. She is also a seasoned advertising executive, with past experience including partner and executive chairman at London advertising agency Karmarama, and non-executive director of alcoholic beverages firm Diageo.



Meta had a banner year in 2023, with shares climbing sharply, while investors praised CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s push for a “year of efficiency” driven by sharp cost-cutting and a change in focus towards more profitable lines of business.



Last year also marked a major pivot toward artificial intelligence for Meta — an area where the company plays a key role with its LLaMA large language model. Meta also remains heavily focused on the metaverse with its Quest 3 headsets.



“From a Meta perspective, we can be a leader and a pioneer,” Mendelsohn said.

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Why The World Is Rushing Back To The Moon

Theresa May, former UK Prime Minister’s message from Davos

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Alex Soros says a Trump win is a done deal for the Davos elite — but they’re always wrong

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China courts global elite at Davos with largest presence in years

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