Elon Musk Attends Davos for First Time After Years of Criticizing World Economic Forum

Elon Musk attends the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday for the first time, marking a striking shift for the world’s richest person after years of openly criticizing the annual gathering of global political and business elites.

Musk will took part in a discussion panel alongside Larry Fink, chief executive of BlackRock, placing one of the forum’s most vocal skeptics at the center of its most high-profile conversations.

Musk’s appearance comes despite his long-standing public disdain for Davos, which he has repeatedly described as elitist, unaccountable, and detached from the concerns of ordinary people. In past comments on his social media platform X, Musk mocked the forum as “boring” and portrayed it as an unelected global authority “that nobody asked for and nobody wants.”

Musk’s presence in Davos coincides with his growing influence across a range of global policy debates. His companies occupy increasingly strategic positions in geopolitics, technology, and security, from SpaceX’s provision of satellite internet services to conflict zones via Starlink, to controversies surrounding content generated by Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot developed by his startup xAI.

These issues have drawn scrutiny from governments, regulators, and civil society groups alike, placing Musk at the intersection of technological innovation and political accountability, a dynamic that mirrors many of the forum’s core discussions.