Latest news with #ChristophSchweizer
Economic Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Economic Times
ET World Leaders Forum: Star-studded lineup to take centre stage on Aug 22
The Economic Times World Leadership Forum is set to reconvene in New Delhi. Global leaders will gather on August 22-23. They will explore the evolving global landscape. Discussions will focus on trade wars and economic uncertainties. The forum's theme is 'The Next Global Order'. Experts will analyze shifting power dynamics and AI advancements. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads India Opportunity Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Popular in Company 1. Sebi chief Tuhin Kanta Pandey highlights need to redefine independent directors' role Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads The Economic Times World Leadership Forum (ET WLF) returns on August 22-23, bringing together some of the sharpest minds from boardrooms, trading floors and innovation hubs across the world to share insights at a time of trade wars, geopolitical tensions and economic theme for this year is The Next Global Order: Power, Purpose & two days at New Delhi's Taj Palace hotel, global CEOs, entrepreneurs and visionaries will decode the forces reshaping global trade-from shifting power equations to artificial intelligence (AI) breakthroughs-offering the audience new perspectives to make sense of and navigate these turbulent the world of consulting, Christoph Schweizer, chief executive of BCG, and Mohamed Kande, global chairman of PwC, will be sharing their views at the country's top platform for exchange of ideas.A highlight of the forum will be Sir Martin Sorrell, the legendary dealmaker who has shaped and reshaped the global advertising industry multiple times over his storied career. The chairman of S4 Capital may share his Wood, CIO at Jefferies, will offer his take on what geopolitical headwinds mean for Indian equities and how global investors are sizing up the India investors such as David Steinbach, managing partner at Hines, one of the world's largest privately held real estate investors and managers, and Ritu Arora, chief executive of Allianz Investment, Asia Pacific, will reveal how global capital sees the India J González, global vice-chairman of Radisson Hotel Group, and Puneet Chhatwal, managing director and chief executive of Indian Hotels , will share their perspectives on emerging trends in the Indian hospitality sector, which is among the best-performing in the legal sector is opening for global competition. And Sunny Mann, global chairman of Baker McKenzie, one of the world's top law firms, is on the speaker WLF also has a lineup of top technology CEOs flying in to share insights as AI emerges as a megatrend, with every company and leader eager to understand its disruptive potential and the opportunities it include Jonathan Ross, founder of Groq, one of Silicon Valley's most talked-about AI chipmaking startups, along with Truecaller global chief executive Rishit Jhunjhunwala, bestselling author and Publicis Sapient CEO Nigel Vaz, globally acclaimed software leader and Vianai Systems founder Vishal Sikka, Clearwater Analytics chief executive Sandeep Sahai, Nothing cofounder Akis Evangelidis, Tredence CEO Shub Bhowmick and Stack Overflow chief executive Prashanth heavyweights will dive deep into the large-scale technology transformations changing the IT business and reshaping companies Perry, global president of the $31-billion market cap fintech Broadridge Financial Solutions, will speak on the next big AI revolution in financial Bitcoin touching all-time highs, Bitget chief operations officer Vugar Usi Zade, Coinweb Labs chief executive Toby Gilbert, and Polygon Labs founder and CEO Sandeep Nailwal will discuss the next chapter for digital assets and blockchain corporate leaders Kosuke Mori, CEO of Saison International, and Koichi Zaiki, managing executive officer and Asia-Pacific chief executive at Mizuho Bank, will share an outsider's view on doing business in India.
Indian Express
5 days ago
- Business
- Indian Express
BCG analysed plan to ‘relocate' Gazans to Somalia: What Financial Times' report found
The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) reportedly drew plans to analyse how Palestinians in Gaza could be shifted to other countries, including Somalia, under a project to 'redevelop' a region which has long seen conflict over land and identity. The Financial Times reported the story on Thursday (August 7), citing people familiar with the work. It said the consultancy firm created a spreadsheet 'on behalf of Israeli businessmen who were sketching plans for the redevelopment of Gaza after the war between Hamas and Israel.' The FT first reported on the plan last month. BCG CEO Christoph Schweizer earlier said the entire episode had been 'reputationally very damaging' for the firm. It came just a few months after US President Donald Trump held a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying the US will 'take over Gaza and…do a job with it too'. He added that America will 'own' Gaza and turn it into the 'Riviera of the Middle East'. Here is what to know about BCG's role, the fallout, and the massive criticism that followed. According to the FT's investigation, BCG was contracted for around seven months for the 'relocation' project, at roughly $4 million (around Rs 35 crore). 'One scenario estimated more than 500,000 Gazans would leave the enclave with 'relocation packages' worth $9,000 per person, or around $5bn in total,' it said. Gaza's total population is around 2 million. The advisory firm Tony Blair Institute (TBI), founded by the former UK Prime Minister, also saw two staff members participate in message groups and calls as the project developed. Additionally, BCG was involved in establishing the Israel- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The GHF, which began operations in late May, has been criticised for failing to provide aid comprehensively and for the deaths of Palestinians who attempted to secure aid from its centres. Just this week, UN experts described it as an 'utterly disturbing example of how humanitarian relief can be exploited for covert military and geopolitical agendas in serious breach of international law.' They also mentioned 'The entanglement of Israeli intelligence, US contractors and ambiguous non-governmental entities'. BCG was originally engaged by Orbis, a US-based security contractor, for a feasibility study for the aid operation. This was done on a pro bono basis, meaning the clients were not charged for it. Orbis prepared the study on behalf of the Tachlith Institute, an Israeli think-tank. The latest FT report said that Somalia and the breakaway region of Somaliland were on the list of locations for 'relocating' the people of Gaza, along with the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Jordan. It is in line with recent media reports of the US and Israeli governments sounding out countries in East Africa about taking in Palestinian refugees. What was the BCG's response? The BCG said the two partners involved with the GHF initially began the work on a pro bono basis and 'then carried out subsequent unauthorized work'. The company disavowed this work and said they were not paid for it. On the reconstruction plan work, it said the company's role was being 'misrepresented'. 'Two former partners initiated this work, even though the lead partner was categorically told not to,' it added, disavowing the work. The TBI also asserted that it 'saw' the slide deck but 'didn't create it'. The deck in question was a slideshow on potential projects, such as an 'Elon Musk Smart Manufacturing Zone' on the Gaza-Israel border, where US electric vehicle companies would build cars for export to Europe. It also included the 'Gaza Trump Riviera & Islands', serving as 'world class resorts along the coastline and on small artificial islands similar to the Palm Islands in Dubai'. And what was the fallout? Following the newspaper's July report, the international NGO Save the Children suspended its 20-year partnership with BCG. The UK Parliament's Business and Trade Committee further asked the BCG CEO to respond to its questions, seeking the details of the plan. The company also came under fire for participating in a plan for displacing Palestinians, many of whom are currently internally displaced within Gaza as a result of Israeli shelling. The Riviera suggestion also took the world by surprise when Trump announced it, as it would have violated long-standing UN resolutions supporting the Palestinian right of self-determination (which India has also backed at the United Nations), and international law, including against ethnic cleansing. The GHF, meanwhile, has continued to attract severe criticism over its functioning, as images and video from Gaza show emaciated people due to Israel blocking aid delivery. NGOs and relief agencies, such as Doctors Without Borders or Médecins Sans Frontières, and UN experts have called for the GHF's closure. MSF said in a statement, 'In MSF's nearly 54 years of operations, rarely have we seen such levels of systematic violence against unarmed civilians.' It described the GHF-run food distributions in Gaza as sites of 'orchestrated killing and dehumanisation'. Further, there is not much progress on Trump's Riviera plan, but Israel has increasingly indicated plans to occupy all of Gaza. According to the BBC, Israel's security cabinet met on Thursday to make a decision, with its military forces currently controlling three-fourths of Gaza.
Arab News
10-07-2025
- Business
- Arab News
British MPs demand full details of US consulting firm's role in Gaza
LONDON: A parliamentary committee in the UK has demanded that a major US consulting firm provides full details of its activities related to Gaza, after it emerged the company helped set up a controversial Israeli-led aid operation. Boston Consulting Group was also asked to provide details of the work it carried out on models to estimate the costs of a widely-condemned Israeli and US plan to relocate Palestinians from Gaza to other countries. Liam Byrne, chairperson of the Business and Trade Committee, sent a letter requesting the information to BCG's CEO, Christoph Schweizer, as part of the 'scrutiny of the UK's commercial, political and humanitarian links to the conflict.' The Financial Times reported on July 4 that the consultancy had built a financial model for the reconstruction of Gaza, which included an estimate of the likely cost of the voluntary relocation of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. It also said BCG had helped establish the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US and Israeli-backed aid-distribution program in the territory. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed trying to access humanitarian supplies at the foundation's distribution sites since they started operating in May. In a statement published on Wednesday, Schweizer said the lead partner involved in the work carried out by BCG had been 'explicitly told not to do any work related to Gaza reconstruction.' He added: 'The project fell well outside our standards for work that we accept. But the ban was ignored, and the work was secretively conducted anyway.' He said an internal investigation began in May, two of the partners involved were subsequently 'exited' from the company and BCG did not receive any fees for the work. Byrne, an MP from the UK's ruling Labour Party, sent a number of questions for BCG to answer about its work on Gaza 'in light of the high level of public and parliamentary concern.' He wrote: 'We are aware of recent reports regarding BCG's engagement with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and associated modeling of the costs of relocating Palestinians from Gaza.' He asked for a 'detailed timeline' of BCG's involvement with the foundation, the scope of its engagement, and the identities of the clients and partners involved. He requested details of other organizations, companies or individuals engaged by BCG in relation to the aid-distribution program, and more details about the type of the 'unauthorized' work the company said was carried out. Byrne also asked for more information about the work related to the development of models for the relocation of Palestinians from Gaza, including the identities of those who commissioned the work and whether any UK-based organizations were involved. He gave BCG until July 22 to respond, 'given the seriousness of these issues and the high level of public interest.' Nearly 58,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023 during Israel's war on Gaza, including more than 500 in recent weeks as they attempted to obtain food aid from Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution sites. The organization, which was set up to replace UN aid-distribution mechanisms, has been condemned by humanitarian chiefs for politicizing aid. US and Israeli-backed proposals to relocate the Palestinian population of Gaza to other countries, which emerged at the start of the year, were widely condemned by governments in the region and beyond.
AU Financial Review
10-07-2025
- Business
- AU Financial Review
BCG's role in Gaza probed by UK parliamentary committee
London/New York | Boston Consulting Group has been ordered to explain its activities in Gaza to a UK parliamentary committee as pressure intensifies on the US consultancy. Liam Byrne, chair of the House of Commons business and trade select committee, has written to BCG chief executive Christoph Schweizer, requesting 'clarification and information' surrounding the company's reported involvement in Gaza-related activities.
New York Post
09-07-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Boston Consulting Group fires rogue employees who worked on Gaza ‘relocation' plan
One of the world's largest consulting firms has fired two rogue employees who defied a company prohibition and led a 'small, off-the-books team' involved in crunching the numbers on the costs of relocating Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. Two partners involved in the project were fired in early June, according to the Financial Times. Their team reportedly worked on a proposal to transform postwar Gaza into a regional trading hub and were involved in modeling the cost of relocating a quarter of the Palestinian population. 'This work was explicitly prohibited, and BCG disavows it,' Christoph Schweizer, the CEO of Boston Consulting Group, wrote in a letter. He added that the partner responsible 'ignored a direct instruction and proceeded anyway, coordinating a small, off-the-books team and executing the work outside BCG systems and approvals.' 4 Boston Consulting Group, one of the world's largest consulting firms, has fired two rogue employees linked to a scheme to help 'relocate' Palestinians from Gaza. Sipa via AP Images 'Even if this was not in any way, shape, or form a formal BCG project, our association with it is real, deeply troubling, and reputationally very damaging,' Schweizer said. More than a dozen BCG staff worked on the effort, codenamed 'Aurora,' between October 2024 and late May of this year, including senior figures such as the firm's chief risk officer and the head of its social impact practice, according to FT. The work stretched over seven months and exceeded $4 million in contracted value. BCG's model included cost estimates for relocating more than 500,000 Gazans, with 'relocation packages' worth $9,000 per person, totaling around $5 billion, according to the FT. One scenario under 'voluntary relocation' proposed giving Gazans $5,000, subsidized rent for four years, and subsidized food for a year. The model assumed a quarter of Gazans would leave, and that 'three-quarters of those relocated would never return.' One person involved told the FT that 'there is no coercive element here and the plan is not incentivizing people to leave. The 25% is a 'plug number'. The people of Gaza will decide. It is not a plan to empty Gaza.' 4 More than a dozen BCG staff worked on the effort, codenamed 'Aurora,' between October 2024 and late May 2025, according to a report. AP BCG, which employs between 32,000 and 36,000 people globally in over 100 offices scattered across more than 50 countries, said the work was unauthorized. 'The lead partner was categorically told no, and he violated this directive. We disavow this work,' the company told FT last week. The firm added: 'We stopped the work, exited the two partners who led it, took no fees and launched an independent investigation.' Keep up with today's most important news Stay up on the very latest with Evening Update. Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters In his letter, Schweizer added: 'For many around the world, and in particular for those of you with Palestinian roots, this has been deeply painful and profoundly disappointing. We feel this too. And we deeply regret that we fell short — not only of our standards, but of the trust that you, our people, our clients, and our broader communities place in BCG.' The Gaza Strip is home to 2.1 million Palestinians — an estimated 80% of whom were registered as refugees who fled what is present-day Israel in 1947-48. The project was tied to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a group BCG had not previously disclosed its full involvement with. 4 BCG said the rogue plan to help Palestinians leave Gaza was 'reputationally very damaging.' AP Senior BCG executives reportedly held multiple discussions about the project, though the firm says its leadership was misled. GHF is a US-based group operating with the backing of both the US and Israeli governments to distribute humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip. It was created to bypass traditional distribution systems including the United Nations and other aid organizations. But the group has attracted scrutiny in light of the fact that it operates under heavy Israeli military oversight. It also employs private security contractors in charge of managing crowd control. Since GHF started distributing aid, hundreds of Palestinians have reportedly been killed and thousands injured while seeking aid at its distribution sites, often as a result of Israeli forces firing into crowds, according to UN officials and Israeli media reports. Israel has claimed that armed Palestinians are firing at Gazans near the aid distribution sites. GHF has slammed the reports as 'inaccurate,' telling The Post: 'False allegations of attacks near aid distribution sites have unfortunately become a consistent pattern. Inaccurate reporting of events in the region hampers distribution of life-saving aid to those who need it most.' 'To date, there have been no incidents or fatalities at or in the immediate vicinity of any of our distribution sites,' GHF said in a statement. 'However, IDF is tasked with providing safe passage for aid-seekers to all humanitarian organizations operating in Gaza, including GHF. GHF is not aware of any of these incidents but these allegations are too grave to ignore and we therefore call on Israel to investigate them and transparently publish the results in a timely manner.' When news initially surfaced of BCG's involvement with GHF, long-time partner Save the Children, the UK-based charity, cut ties with the firm. 4 Palestinians line up to receive bags of flour distributed by the World Food Programme in Gaza City on June 26. AP The nonprofit's chief executive, Inger Ashing, reportedly told staff on Monday that the organization was 'appalled and deeply disturbed' to learn that BCG had modeled relocation plans for Palestinians. 'Following that, we suspended all ongoing work with BCG pending the outcome of their external investigation,' Ashing said, noting that the suspension began on June 13, shortly after BCG first acknowledged its work with the GHF. 'Save the Children suspended its pro bono partnership with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) on June 13 pending a review by the firm into its processes that led to BCG staff carrying out unauthorized work with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF),' the charity told The Post in a statement. 'Save the Children has repeatedly warned publicly that any militarized aid distribution system, such as that set up by the GHF, would carry catastrophic consequences, and put civilians attempting to access food at risk.' The charity told The Post that 'we continue to advocate for aid delivery in Gaza that is guided by humanitarian principles and by international humanitarian law, ensuring that assistance reaches those in need safely, with dignity, and free from political interference.' BCG isn't the only private firm distancing itself from GHF. Last week, banking giants UBS and Goldman Sachs both declined to set up Swiss accounts for GHF, Reuters reported last week. The Post has sought comment from BCG, UBS and Goldman Sachs.
