You're In The Right Place If You Need To Know Who's Running The World

During an era of change after World War II, the Dutch Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld, sent out invitations to a group of select people. The goal was to gather those who could help create a better understanding of the complex problems affecting Western nations during the post-war era. The meetings continued every year, until long after the post-war world was upon them.

The Bilderberg Group

Prince Bernhard chaired the meetings until 1976. Today, the richest and most powerful people in the world assemble once a year and sequester themselves from prying eyes.

A large portion of the attendees are people holding government jobs and politicians. The remaining come from the fields of finance, industry, academia, and media. Geographically, the majority of members come from Europe, with the rest coming from North America, almost completely. Over the last sixty years, members come from MI6, NATO, the IMF, Microsoft, the Federal Reserve, the NSA, Google, and others.

Recent subjects include Ukraine, Israel, and the Middle East, and privacy.

During such meetings, privacy is paramount. Even though things are done publically, attendees and the main topics of discussions, as well as the conversations themselves, are kept hush-hush.

They use Chatham House Rules. Under Chatham House Rules, members of the media, like the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, often get invited. Any ideas discussed are open for report. However, the truth about who speakers are and their affiliations is strictly off-limits.

Infractions to the Chatham House Rules are taken seriously. In 2014 it was reported that two members of the press were arrested for trying to interview organizers of the conference in a hotel bar.

The fact that these people meet behind closed doors leaves some to be mistrustful. One such person is the author of The True Story of the Bilderberg Group. How people feel may be different than how Daniel Estulin feels, but he may be right.

When you think about a private group getting together where presidents, prime ministers, international bankers, and generals are all rubbing shoulders. Imagine it being a place with chaperones that ensure everyone gets along. An even scarier thought might be that they make certain those running the wars, markets, America, and Europe say what they’d never say in public.

In his book, Estulin points out that group invitations can’t be bought. Nobody buys their way into the Bilderberg Group. The group's steering committee decides who gets an invite. They annually invite between 125 and 150 people.

Rules for coming to the meeting are different than other meetings of world leaders.

1. Come alone
2. No Wives, girlfriends, husbands, or other
3. Personal assistants, private security or bodyguards, secret service protectors, or anyone else must eat in a separate hall.
4. Guests are forbidden from doing press interviews or sharing what happens in meetings.

In 1991, Bill Clinton attended when he was governor of Arkansas. Due to the secret nature of such a group, some point to that meeting as a reason why he was elected a year later.

For an idea of who’s attending the meetings of the Bilderberg Group, check out the 2024 list of attendees.

The Would-Be Masters of the Universe

Abrams, Stacey (USA), CEO, Sage Works Production

Adeyemo, Adewale (USA), Deputy Secretary, Department of the Treasury

Adlercreutz, Anders (FIN), Minister for European Affairs and Ownership Steering

Albares, José Manuel (ESP), Minister of Foreign Affairs

Altman, Roger C. (USA), Founder and Senior Chair, Evercore Inc.

Alverà, Marco (ITA), Co-Founder, zhero.net; CEO, TES

Amodei, Dario (USA), Co-Founder and CEO, Anthropic PBC

Anderlini, Jamil (DEU/USA), Editor-in-Chief, POLITICO Europe

Appathurai, James (INT), Deputy Assistant Secretary-General for Innovation, Hybrid and Cyber, NATO

Applebaum, Anne(USA), Staff Writer, The Atlantic

Auchincloss, Murray (GBR), CEO, BP plc

Aydin, Mustafa (TUR), Professor of International Relations, Kadir Has University

Barbizet, Patricia (FRA), Chair and CEO, Temaris & Associés SAS

Barroso, José Manuel (PRT), Chair International Advisors, Goldman Sachs International

Baudson, Valérie (FRA), CEO, Amundi SA

Bengio, Yoshua (CAN), Professor in Computer Science and Operations Research, University of Montreal

Bini Smaghi, Lorenzo (ITA), Chair, Societé Générale SA

Botín, Ana P. (ESP), Group Executive Chair, Banco Santander SA

Bourla, Albert (USA), Chair and CEO, Pfizer Inc.

Braathen (NOR), Kjerstin, CEO, DNB ASA

Buschmann, Marco (DEU), Minister of Justice

Calviño, Nadia (INT), President, European Investment Bank

Carney, Mark J. (CAN), Chair, Brookfield Asset Management

Carvalho, Charlene de (NLD), Executive Director, Heineken Holding NV

Castries, Henri de (FRA), President, Institut Montaigne

Castro, Ildefonso (ESP), Secretary International Affairs, Partido Popular

Cavoli, Christopher (INT), Supreme Allied Commander Europe

Champagne, François-Philippe (CAN), Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry

Chhabra, Tarun (USA), Senior Director for Technology and National Security, NSC

Chubays, Anatoly B. (RUS/ISR), Visiting Professor, London School of Economics

Corydon, Bjarne (DNK), CEO and Editor-in-Chief, Dagbladet Børsen

Coveney, Simon (IRL), Former Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment

Creuheras, José (ESP), Chair, Grupo Planeta and Atresmedia

Cuerpo, Carlos (ESP), Minister of Economy, Commerce and Business

Daurella Comadrán, Sol (ESP), Chair, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners plc

Della Vigna, Michele (ITA), Head, Natural Resources Research EMEA, Goldman Sachs

Domański, Andrzej, (POL) Minister of Finance

Donohoe, Paschal (INT), President, Eurogroup

Döpfner, Mathias (DEU), Chair and CEO, Axel Springer SE

Easterly, Jen (USA), Director, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency

Ek, Daniel (SWE), CEO, Spotify SA

Empoli, Giuliano da (ITA), Political Scientist and Writer, Sciences Po

Entrecanales, José M. (ESP), Chair and CEO, Acciona SA

Eriksen, Øyvind (NOR), President and CEO, Aker ASA

Ferguson, Niall (USA), Milbank Family Senior Fellow, Stanford University

Finer, Jonathan (USA), Deputy National Security Advisor

Fontcuberta i Morral (CHE), Anna, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, EPFL

Fraser, Jane (USA), CEO, Citigroup

Gabuev, Alexander, Director (INT), Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center

Gentiloni, Paolo (INT), European Commissioner for Economy

Gil, Isabel, Rector (PRT), Catholic University of Portugal

Gruber, Lilli (ITA), Editor-in-Chief and Anchor, La7 TV

Gruyter, Caroline de (NLD), European Affairs Correspondent, NRC

Gürsel, Kadri (TUR), Journalist, Medyascope

Halberstadt, Victor (NLD), Professor Em. of Economics, Leiden University

Harrington, Kevin (USA), Managing Director, Thiel Capital LLC

Hassabis, Demis (GBR), CEO, Google DeepMind

Hedegaard, Connie (DNK), Chair, KR Foundation

Hernández de Cos, Pablo (ESP), Governor, Banco de España

Hobson, Mellody (USA), Co-CEO and President, Ariel Investments LLC

Hoekstra, Wopke (INT), European Commissioner for Climate Action

Johansson, Ylva (INT), European Commissioner for Home Affairs

Kaag, Sigrid (INT), Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, UN

Kadri, Ilham (BEL), CEO, Syensqo

Kalemli-Özcan, Sebnem (TUR), Schreiber Family Professior of Economics Brown University

Kallas, Kaja (EST), Prime Minister

Karp, Alex (USA), CEO, Palantir Technologies Inc.

Kerameus, Niki (GRC), Minister for the Interior

Kieli, Kasia (POL), President and Managing Director, Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA

Koç, Ömer (TUR), Chair, Koç Holding AS

Kotkin, Stephen (USA), Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University

Kravis, Henry R. (USA), Co-Founder and Co-Executive Chair, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.

Kravis, Marie-Josée (USA), Chair, The Museum of Modern Art

Kudelski, André (CHE), Chair and CEO, Kudelski Group SA

Kuleba, Dmytro (UKR), Minister of Foreign Affairs

Lander, Eric S. (USA), Founding Director, Broad Institute

Lee, Peter (USA), President, Microsoft Research

Leysen, Thomas (BEL), Chair, dsm-firmenich AG

Lighthizer, Robert (USA), Chair, Center for American Trade

Liikanen, Erkki (FIN), Chair, IFRS Foundation Trustees

Linde, Ann (SWE), Former Minister for Foreign Affairs

Luckey, Palmer (USA), Founder, Anduril Industries

Meeus, Tom-Jan (NLD), Journalist, NRC

Mensch, Arthur (FRA), Co-Founder and CEO, Mistral AI

Merz, Friedrich (DEU), Leader, CDU

Michel, Charles (INT), President, European Council

Micklethwait, John (USA), Editor-in-Chief, Bloomberg LP

Minton Beddoes, Zanny (GBR), Editor-in-Chief, The Economist

Monti, Mario (ITA), Senator for life

Moreira, Duarte (PRT), Co-Founder and CEO, Zeno Partners

Netherlands, H.M. the King of the (NLD)

O’Leary, Michael (IRL), Group CEO, Ryanair Group

Pannier-Runacher (FRA), Agnès, State Secretary at Ministry of Agriculture

Papahelas, Alexis (GRC), Executive Editor, Kathimerini Newspaper

Papalexopoulos, Dimitri (GRC), Chair, TITAN Cement Group

Petraeus, David H. (USA), Chair, KKR Global Institute

Philippe, Édouard (FRA), Mayor, Le Havre

Phillips, Richard H. (USA), Office of the Director of National Intelligence

Pind, Søren (DNK), Founder and CEO, Danish Cyber Defence

Pouyanné, Patrick (FRA), Chair and CEO, TotalEnergies SE

Rachman, Gideon (GBR), Chief Foreign Affairs Commentator, Financial Times

Ramírez, Pedro J. (ESP), Director, El Español

Rendi-Wagner, Pamela (AUT), Director-Elect, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control

Ruiz, José Juan (ESP), Chair, Elcano Royal Institute

Rutte, Mark (NLD), Prime Minister

Sawan, Wael (GBR), CEO, Shell plc

Sawers, John (GBR), Executive Chair, Newbridge Advisory Ltd.

Schadlow, Nadia (USA), Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute

Schmidt, Eric E. (USA), Former CEO and Chair, Google

Schmidt, Wolfgang (DEU), Head of the Chancellery, Federal Minister for Special Tasks

Šefčovič, Maroš (INT), European Commissioner Green Deal, Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight

Sewing, Christian (DEU), CEO, Deutsche Bank AG

Sherman, Wendy R. (USA), Former Deputy Secretary of State

Siddall, Evan (CAN), CEO, Alberta Investment Management Corporation

Sikorski, Radoslaw (POL), Minister of Foreign Affairs

Şimşek, Mehmet (TUR), Minister of Finance

Stephens, Bret (USA), Opinion Columnist, New York Times

Stoltenberg, Jens (INT), Secretary General, NATO

Stubb, Alexander (FIN), President of the Republic

Suleyman, Mustafa (GBR), CEO, Microsoft AI

Thiel, Peter (USA), President, Thiel Capital LLC

Varadkar, Leo (IRL), Former Prime Minister

Verhoeven, Karel (BEL), Editor-in-Chief, De Standaard

Wallenberg, Marcus (SWE), Chair, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB

Ward, Jonathan (USA), Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute

Wolf, Martin H. (GBR), Chief Economics Commentator, Financial Times

Wright, Thomas (USA), Senior Director for Strategic Planning, NSC

Yläjärvi, Erja (FIN), Senior Editor-in-Chief, Helsingin Sanomat

Zadrazil, Robert (AUT), Country Manager Austria, UniCredit Group

Zakaria, Fareed (USA), Host, Fareed Zakaria GPS