Axa CEO Thomas Buberl leaves WEF board

WEF Board of Trustees: Axa CEO Thomas Buberl steps down Keystone-SDA

Thomas Buberl, chief executive of the French insurer Axa, has stepped down from the board of trustees of the World Economic Forum (WEF). He has not appeared on the WEF website's list of board members for the past few days.

The Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) newspaper quoted a WEF spokesperson on Friday as saying that Buberl had stepped down in August. He had served on the board of trustees since 2020. No reason was given for his departure from the board, which now has 27 members.

The move comes amid ongoing leadership disputes at the WEF. The board of trustees is currently discussing who should lead the organisation in the future. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde is widely seen as the frontrunner for the chair.

According to the NZZ am Sonntag, she told a recent meeting that she was “ready to serve”. Bloomberg has also reported that Lagarde is willing in principle to take on the role. However, she is said to want the tensions between the WEF and its founder, Klaus Schwab, resolved before doing so.

Schwab left the Forum in April 2025, but relations with his former organisation remained strained. Another leadership change followed in early 2026, when long-serving President and CEO Borge Brende stepped down. BlackRock chief executive Larry Fink and Roche vice-chairman André Hoffmann currently jointly lead the board of trustees, while Alois Zwinggi oversees the organisation’s day-to-day operations.

According to the NZZ, Buberl was seen as part of a group that had become increasingly critical of Schwab. Two of his allies, former WEF President and CEO Borge Brende and former Nestlé chief executive Peter Brabeck, had already left the organisation.

+ How we produce news in English

Translated from German, reviewed by an English Department journalist.