Secretive Bilderberg Gathering of Global Elites Kicks Off: See Who’s Attending

Protesters talk with police outside the steel fence set up around the 2013 Bilderberg Group meeting in London, on June 6, 2013. Simon Gross/Ben Dome

The 69th Bilderberg Meeting, a secretive conclave of global power brokers, has kicked off in Lisbon, Portugal, with issues on the agenda including transnational threats, artificial intelligence, and America’s leadership in world affairs.

This year’s meeting, the latest in a series that began in 1954, continues to blur the lines between open diplomacy and clandestine elitism as political leaders brush shoulders with industry bigwigs, media barons, and finance tycoons.

“It’s a really high-octane list, leaning heavily into the Russia/Ukraine conflict and the future of NATO,” journalist Charlie Skelton, who’s in Lisbon to cover this year’s event, told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement.

As usual, the details of their discussions remain obscured by the “Chatham House Rule,” a protocol that gives participants the discretion to use the information gleaned from the talks but forbids the identification of speakers or participants, ensuring anonymity.

“Thanks to the private nature of the Meeting, the participants take part as individuals rather than in any official capacity, and hence are not bound by the conventions of their office or by pre-agreed positions,” a Bilderberg Meetings press release reads.

Among the major topics slated for discussion are artificial intelligence, the banking system, energy transition, and industrial policy and trade.

Other high-priority issues include the geopolitical landscapes of Europe, China, India, Russia, and Ukraine, along with NATO and America’s global leadership.

The topic of U.S. leadership, which last appeared on the Bilderberg agenda in 2018, comes as China and Russia have ramped up their efforts to reduce reliance on the U.S. dollar as the world’s pre-eminent reserve currency.

Elites Gather

The array of globally influential figures includes NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, with the dynamics of global security cooperation in sharp focus as the war in Ukraine continues with no end in sight.

Also on the security front, attending the meeting are Avril Haines, U.S. director of National Intelligence, and Thomas Wright, senior director for Strategic Planning at the National Security Council.

Avril Haines, head of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), testifies during a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing about worldwide threats, on Capitol Hill in Washington on April 14, 2021. Graeme Jennings/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

There’s no shortage of political leaders, including Roberta Metsola, president of the European Parliament, Mark Rutte, prime minister of the Netherlands, and Finland’s outgoing Prime Minister Sanna Marin, who lost an election but continues to serve as part of a caretaker government until a new cabinet is formed.

Also attending is Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, the creator of the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT that has grabbed headlines for its potential to replace humans in jobs. Other prominent tech figures include Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir Technologies, and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, is also on the list of participants, as is Thiel Capital founder Peter Thiel, and John Waldron, president of Goldman Sachs.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla gestures during a session at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos on May 25, 2022. Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images

Also in attendance are Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Justice, Alexander Schallenberg, Austria’s Minister for European and International Affairs, and Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

Kuleba, notably, has been at the forefront of efforts to bolster Western backing for Ukraine in its conflict with Russia. He recently took part in a meeting of 27 European Union foreign ministers, where he called for the provision of long-range artillery ammunition and the opening of talks for Ukraine’s potential accession to the E.U.

While the Bilderberg Meeting is touted as a private, informal gathering devoid of any official capacity, the implications of such a potent concentration of power have been the subject of scrutiny.

“It seems like an awful lot of senior European politicians to be discussing vital topics such as Ukraine, Russia, and NATO, with such senior NATO officials, and with no press oversight and no press conference,” Skelton told The Epoch Times.

“The conference seems to be a serious blind spot in the mainstream media. And this blind spot doesn’t seem like it’s about to clear up any time soon,” he added, referring to reluctance on the part of legacy media outlets to cover the Bilderberg Meetings, which have been the subject of various rumors, including that attendees gather to strategize about how to create a new world order.

The secrecy surrounding the meetings has given rise to a number of unproven theories, including that Bilderberg attendees are behind the creation of the European Union or the invasion of Iraq.

Below is a comprehensive list of participants of the 69th Bilderberg Meetings.

Full List of Participants

Abrams, Stacey (USA), CEO, Sage Works Production Achleitner, Paul M. (DEU), Chair, Global Advisory Board, Deutsche Bank AG Agrawal, Ajay (CAN), Professor of Economics, University of Toronto Albares, José Manuel (ESP), Minister of Foreign Affairs Altman, Sam (USA), CEO, OpenAI Alverà, Marco (ITA), Co-Founder, zhero.net; CEO TES Andersson, Magdalena (SWE), Leader, Social Democratic Party Applebaum, Anne (USA), Staff Writer, The Atlantic  Arnaut, José Luís (PRT), Managing Partner, CMS Rui Pena & Arnaut Attal, Gabriel (FRA), Minister for Public Accounts Balsemão, Francisco Pinto (PRT), Chair, Impresa Group Barbizet, Patricia (FRA), Chair and CEO, Temaris & Associés SAS Barroso, José Manuel (PRT), Chair, International Advisors, Goldman Sachs Baudson, Valérie (FRA), CEO, Amundi SA Beaune, Clément (FRA), Minister for Transport  Benson, Sally (USA), Professor of Energy Science and Engineering, Stanford University Beurden, Ben van (NLD), Special Advisor to the Board, Shell plc  Borg, Anna (SWE), President and CEO, Vattenfall AB Borrell, Josep (INT), Vice President, European Commission Botín, Ana P. (ESP), Group Executive Chair, Banco Santander SA Bourla, Albert (USA), Chair and CEO, Pfizer Inc. Braathen, Kjerstin (NOR), CEO, DNB ASA Brende, Børge (NOR), President, World Economic Forum Brink, Dolf van den (NLD), CEO, Heineken NV Brudermüller, Martin (DEU), CEO, BASF SE Buberl, Thomas (FRA), CEO, AXA SA Byrne, Thomas (IRL), Minister for Sport and Physical Education Carney, Mark (CAN), Vice Chair, Brookfield Asset Management Cassis, Ignazio (CHE), Federal Councillor, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Castries, Henri de (FRA), President, Institut Montaigne Cavoli, Christopher (INT), Supreme Allied Commander Europe Ceylan, Mehmet Fatih (TUR), President, Ankara Policy Center Chhabra, Tarun (USA), Senior Director for Technology and National Security, National Security Council Creuheras, José (ESP), Chair, Grupo Planeta and Atresmedia Debackere, Koenraad (BEL), Chair, KBC Group NV Deese, Brian (USA), Former Director, National Economic Council Donohoe, Paschal (INT), President, Eurogroup Döpfner, Mathias (DEU), Chair and CEO, Axel Springer SE Easterly, Jen (USA), Director, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Economy, Elizabeth (USA), Senior Advisor for China, Department of Commerce Ehrnrooth, Henrik (FIN), Chair, Otava Group Émié, Bernard (FRA), Director General for External Security, Ministry of the Armed Forces 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 Fleming, Jeremy (GBR), Former Director, GCHQ Frederiksen, Mette (DNK), Prime Minister Freeland, Chrystia (CAN), Deputy Prime Minister Garijo, Bélen (DEU), Chair and CEO, Merck KGaA Gentiloni, Paolo (INT), Commissioner for Economy, European Commission Gonzáles Pons, Esteban (ESP), Vice Chair, European People’s Party Gosset-Grainville, Antoine (FRA), Chair, AXA Goulimis, Nicky (GRC), Board Member and Co-Founder, Nova Credit Inc. Griffin, Kenneth (USA), Founder and CEO, Citadel LLC Gruber, Lilli (ITA), Editor-in-Chief and Anchor, La7 TV Gürkaynak, Refet (TUR), Professor of Economics, Bilkent University Haines, Avril D. (USA), Director of National Intelligence Halberstadt, Victor (NLD), Professor of Economics, Leiden University Hassabis, Demis (GBR), CEO, DeepMind Hedegaard, Connie (DNK), Chair, KR Foundation Hofreiter, Anton (DEU), MP; Chair Committee on European Affairs Holzen, Madeleine von (CHE), Editor-in-Chief, Le Temps Jensen, Kristian (DNK), CEO, Green Power Denmark Joshi, Shashank (GBR), Defence Editor, The Economist Kaag, Sigrid (NLD), Minister of Finance; Deputy Prime Minister Karp, Alex (USA), CEO, Palantir Technologies Inc. Kasparov, Garry (USA), Chair, Renew Democracy Initiative Kieli, Kasia (POL), President and Managing Director, Warner Bros. Discovery Poland Kissinger, Henry A. (USA), Chairman, Kissinger Associates Inc. Koç, Ömer (TUR), Chair, Koç Holding AS Kolesnikov, Andrei (INT), Senior Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Kostrzewa, Wojciech (POL), President, Polish Business Roundtable Kotkin, Stephen (USA), Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University Kravis, Henry R. (USA), Co-Chairman, KKR & Co. Inc. 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 Lammy, David (GBR), Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, House of Commons Leysen, Thomas (BEL), Chair, Umicore and Mediahuis; Chair DSM-Firmenich AG Liikanen, Erkki (FIN), Chair, IFRS Foundation Trustees  Looney, Bernard (GBR), CEO, BP plc Marin, Sanna (FIN), Prime Minister Metsola, Roberta (INT), President, European Parliament Micklethwait, John (USA), Editor-in-Chief, Bloomberg LP Minton Beddoes, Zanny (GBR), Editor-in-Chief, The Economist Moreira, Duarte (PRT), Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Zeno Partners Moyo, Dambisa (GBR), Global Economist; Member, House of Lords Mundie, Craig J. (USA), President, Mundie & Associates LLC Nadella, Satya (USA), CEO, Microsoft Corporation O'Leary, Michael (IRL), Group CEO, Ryanair Group Orida, Deborah (CAN), President and CEO, PSP Investments Özel, Soli (TUR), Professor, Kadir Has University Papalexopoulos, Dimitri (GRC), Chair, TITAN Cement Group; Treasurer Bilderberg Meetings Philippe, Édouard (FRA), Mayor, Le Havre Pottinger, Matthew (USA), Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Hoover Institution Pouyanné, Patrick (FRA), Chair and CEO, TotalEnergies SE Rachman, Gideon (GBR), Chief Foreign Affairs Commentator, The Financial Times Ramírez, Pedro J. (ESP), Director, El Español Rappard, Rolly van (NLD), Co-Founder and Co-Chair, CVC Capital Partners  Reynders, Didier (INT), European Commissioner for Justice Röttgen, Norbert (DEU), MP, German Bundestag Rutte, Mark (NLD), Prime Minister Salomon, Martina (AUT), Editor-in-Chief, Kurier Sawers, John (GBR), Executive Chair, Newbridge Advisory Ltd.  Schadlow, Nadia (USA), Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute Schallenberg, Alexander (AUT), Minister for European and International Affairs Schmidt, Eric E. (USA), Former CEO and Chair, Google LLC Schmidt, Wolfgang (DEU), Head of the Chancellery, Federal Minister for Special Tasks Sebastião, Nuno (PRT), Chair and CEO, Feedzai Sikorski, Radoslaw (POL), MEP, European Parliament Silva, Filipe (PRT), CEO, Galp Stilwell de Andrade, Miguel (PRT), CEO, EDP Stoltenberg, Jens (INT), Secretary General, NATO Subramanian, Arvind (INT), Senior Fellow in International and Public Affairs, Brown University Tellis, Ashley J. (USA), Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs, Carnegie Endowment Thiel, Peter (USA), President, Thiel Capital LLC Tsu, Jing (USA), Professor of East Asian Languages and Literatures, Yale University Tugendhat, Tom (GBR), Minister of State for Security Vadera, Shriti (GBR), Chair, Prudential plc Vassilakis, Eftichios (GRC), Chair, Aegean Group Waldron, John (USA), President and COO, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Wallenberg, Marcus (SWE), Chair, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB Wennink, Peter (NLD), President and CEO, ASML Holding NV Wright, Thomas (USA), Senior Director for Strategic Planning, National Security Council Yang, Yuan (GBR), Europe-China Correspondent, Financial Times Yergin, Daniel (USA), Vice Chair, S&P Global     Yinanç, Barçin (TUR), Journalist, T24 News Website