The president and CEO of the World Economic Forum, Børge Brende, is stepping down, after the forum launched an independent investigation into his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.Brende, a former Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, has announced he is stepping down from WEF to avoid “distractions”.In a statement just released, Brende says:double quotation markAfter careful consideration, I have decided to step down as President and CEO of the World Economic Forum.My time here, spanning 8½ years, has been profoundly rewarding.We have seen a record number of partners join us, and we have had a very successful Annual Meeting in Davos behind us, where we engaged with governmental leaders from all over the world like never before.

I am grateful for the incredible collaboration with my colleagues, partners, and constituents, and I believe now is the right moment for the Forum to continue its important work without distractions,His departures follows disclosures from the US Justice Department that showed Brende had three business dinners with Epstein and had also communicated with him via email and text message,It also comes just a month after WEF’s annual meeting in Davos,Earnings at one of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s biggest businesses collapsed at the end of last year as cost pressures continue to pile on European chemicals makers,At Ineos Quattro, one of the three largest businesses in Ratcliffe’s chemicals empire, quarterly earnings fell to €77m in the fourth quarter of last year, compared to €177m in the preceding quarter and €155m in the same a year before.

Britain’s seventh richest man has been a vocal critic of Europe’s trade and climate policies, which he has blamed for raising energy costs while allowing competitors who don’t face green taxes and costs to corner the market.“Trading conditions remained very challenging in all regions,” the company said.“In Europe, weakness in demand, elevated energy and feedstock costs, and competitive imports continued to pressure margins across the product portfolio.”Andy Currie, one of the Ineos Group’s billionaire owners who founded the group alongside Ratcliffe and John Reece, has put his 217ft super yacht up for sale, with an asking price of €85m.According to a report in The Times, a source close to the company says that the sale was a purely personal matter, and not connected to the company’s financial performance.

Until it’s sold, the yacht’s jacuzzi, gym, outdoor cinema and two helipads may help to ease the stress of the European chemicals sector,This segment was amended on 26 February 2026 to refer to The Times report that says a source close to the Ineos Group said the sale of Andy Currie’s yacht was not connected to the company’s financial position,Time to wrap up…The president and CEO of the World Economic Forum, Borge Brende, is stepping down after an independent investigation into his relationship with late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein,Brende, who became president of the WEF in 2017, announced his decision in a statement following disclosures from the U,S.

Justice Department that showed the Norwegian had three business dinners with Epstein and had also communicated with the disgraced financier via email and text message,Brende said:double quotation mark“After careful consideration, I have decided to step down as President and CEO of the World Economic Forum,My time here, spanning 8-1/2 years, has been profoundly rewarding,”The co-chairs of WEF, which holds its annual meeting in Davos each year, said the independent review had concluded and had not found any additional concerns beyond what has been previously disclosed,Chipmaker Nvidia has failed to wow investors with its latest financial results, despite growing revenues sharply and forecasting a bigger sales jump this quarter.

Last night, CEO Jensen Huang, said “Enterprise adoption of [AI] agents is skyrocketing”.But today, Nvidia’s shares have dropped by 3.5%.Britain’s stock market hit a fresh record high this morning, lifted by upbeat results from Rolls-Royce, Howden Joiners and London Stock Exchange Group.Ocado is to cut 1,000 jobs as the retail technology business attempts to slash £150m in costs though a substantial restructuring programme.

The number of young people in the UK not working or in education has risen closer to a million, figures show, as a government adviser warned that society’s expectation of each generation doing better than the next was “now being broken”,Shares in chipmaking giant Nvidia have dropped the start of trading in New York, as its forecast-beating results fail to impress investors,Nvidia are down 2% at $191,49 each, after posting record quarterly revenue of $68,1bn for the last quarter of 2025, 73% more than a year earlier.

Over in the US, the number of people filing new claims for unemployment assistance has risen,There were 212,000 initial claims in the week ending February 21, an increase of 4,000 compared with the previous seven days,Initial jobless claims rose to 212K (+4K), while insured unemployment fell to 1,83M (–31K),The insured unemployment rate held at 1.

2%.Unadjusted claims declined sharply week-over-week.Overall, labor market conditions remain stable.#Jobs #Economy pic.twitter.

com/525DwloIJMIt’s still a low number in historic terms, suggesting US employees are holding onto workers despite concerns that AI will spark a rise of job losses.Børge Brende’s resignation also comes as former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton prepares to testify behind closed doors later today before a congressional committee investigating Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.More here:US Senator Elizabeth Warren is stepping up pressure on regulators to investigate Wall Street executives who may have assisted Jeffrey Epstein, according to a letter seen by Bloomberg.They report that Warren has called for officials at the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.to publicly announce investigations by March 12.

Bloomberg say:double quotation markFinance leaders have faced increasing scrutiny in recent weeks after the Department of Justice released more files tied to Epstein.In her letter dated Wednesday, Warren called out executives at JPMorgan Chase & Co.and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s Kathryn Ruemmler, as well as Jes Staley, the former chief executive officer of Barclays Plc.Børge Brende has now joined a growing list of figures from business and finance to vacate their jobs over their links to Jeffrey Epstein.

Two weeks ago the boss of P&O Ferries owner DP World, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, resigned after the publication of messages with Epstein.Kathy Ruemmler, the top lawyer at Goldman Sachs and a former White House counsel to Barack Obama, resigned earlier this month after emails showing a close relationship between her and Epstein.And former US treasury secretary Larry Summers is retiring from his roles at Harvard university after its review into his ties with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.Børge Brende’s resignation statement doesn’t actually mention Jeffrey Epstein.But a month ago, he told Bloomberg that if he’d known about Epstein’s criminal background, he would have declined the dinner invitations.

“I could have conducted a more thorough investigation into Epstein’s history, and I regret not doing so,” he said, adding that “a few emails and SMS messages were the extent of my interactions,”The co-chairs of the World Economic Forum, André Hoffmann and Larry Fink, have issued a statement on behalf of WEF’s Board of Trustees,In it, they say that the review into Børge Brende’s links to Epstein has concluded, and had not uncovered any concerns beyond what had been “previously disclosed”,Hoffmann and Fink say:double quotation markWe wish to express our sincere appreciation for Børge Brende’s significant contributions to the World Economic Forum,His dedication and leadership have been instrumental during a pivotal period of reforms for the organization, leading to a successful annual meeting in Davos.

We respect his decision to step down.We are pleased to announce that Alois Zwinggi will serve as Interim President and CEO and looking forward to his continued collaboration and partnership over time.The Board of Trustees will oversee the leadership transition including the plan to drive a proper process to identify a permanent successor.The independent review conducted by outside counsel has concluded.The findings stated that there were no additional concerns beyond what has been previously disclosed.

The president and CEO of the World Economic Forum, Børge Brende, is stepping down, after the forum launched an independent investigation into his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein,Brende, a former Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, has announced he is stepping down from WEF to avoid “distractions”,In a statement just released, Brende says:double quotation markAfter careful consideration, I have decided to step down as President and CEO of the World Economic Forum,My time here, spanning 8½ years, has been profoundly rewarding,We have seen a record number of partners join us, and we have had a very successful Annual Meeting in Davos behind us, where we engaged with governmental leaders from all over the world like never before.

I am grateful for the incredible collaboration with my colleagues, partners, and constituents, and I believe now is the right moment for the Forum to continue its important work without distractions,His departures follows disclosures from the US Justice Department that showed Brende had three business dinners with Epstein and had also communicated with him via email and text message,It also comes just a month after WEF’s annual meeting in Davos,The boss of the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), David Schwimmer, has stressed the company’s resilience against the threat of artificial intelligence, saying he had ben telling investors about “how unlikely, verging on impossible it is that it could be replicated or replaced by AI”,“We have made great progress in terms of providing clarity to our investors about how much of our data is proprietary,” he said.

The LSE, traditionally an exchange operator, in 2021 bought the data provider Refinitiv, and sells access to financial markets data including bonds, equities and commodities to banks and brokers.The company’s shares were recently caught up in a broader sell-off of stocks seen as vulnerable to AI.Schwimmer said:double quotation mark“What you’ve seen over the last several months, and again, this is not just about LSEG, this is about whole swathes of the market and whole sectors, there’s a lot of uncertainty and a lot of lack of clarity amongst investors as to what this technology will do.“We are explaining to the market and to our investors how strong our positioning is in data, and we are seeing great traction.And we have partnerships with new AI channels like ChatGPT and Claude, and we’re seeing our customers want to access our data through these new channels.

”His comments came as the LSEG announced £3bn of share buybacks over the next 12 months, its biggest ever, after it came under pressure from the activist investor Elliott Management, a New York-based hedge fund, to improve its performance,Last year, the LSE bought back £2,1bn of shares and raised its dividend by 15%,Schwimmer said the company had held some discussions with Elliott, but added that the board was talking to all of its shareholders,“We’re trying to do the right thing for all of our shareholders.

”LSEG’s share price has jumped nearly 6% this morning, but is down about a quarter in the past year, amid fears about the impact of AI on its business,The firm reported a 57% jump in profit before tax to nearly £2bn in 2025,Batting off suggestions that it could sell its 51% stake in the bond trading platform Tradeweb, Schwimmer said: “We have no intentions or no plans at this point to conduct any disposals,” Elliott is reportedly pressing the LSE for a review of its businesses,Euro zone economic sentiment has deteriorated in February, in a blow to hopes that Europe’s economy was reviving.

The European Commission’s Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) has decreased in both the EU and the euro area this month, falling by one point to 98.3 in both areas.Employment expectations also dropped.The number of young people in the UK not in employment, education or training has risen, amid growing concerns that artificial intelligence is eliminating entry-level job opportunities.The Office for National Statistics has reported that the number of NEETS rose to 957,000 in October-December, up from 946,000 in July to September.

David Freeman, joint head of labour market division at the ONS, says:double quotation mark“The final quarter of 2025 saw a slight increase in the number of young people not in employment, education and training compared to the previous quarter.This was driven by higher unemployment, with more young people actively looking for work.”