What is Davos? 5 things to know about the World Economic Forum - USA TODAY

DAVOS, Switzerland — The temperature will be a frigid 14 degrees when 3,000 of the world's elite descend on this frumpy ski town 5,120 feet above sea level in the Swiss Alps on Monday. There's no chi-chi Prada store or glamorous spa. And few of the monarchs, CEOs or heads of state who show up will even have time to hit the slopes.

So why do one-percenters travel from all over the world to spend four days in a bleak, snow-covered Swiss mountain town two hours by train from Zurich?

It was boring, at first. The gathering began in 1971 as the European Management Symposium, an academic, economic and management conference chaired by Klaus Schwab under a newly formed foundation, the European Management Forum. Schwab, a German-born business professor at the University of Geneva, had recently returned from a year at Harvard and wanted to share his newly acquired expertise in U.S. management systems. The first forum drew 450 people.

Over the years, it grew. The forum invited politicians for the first time in 1974 as European Commission leaders sought a way to chew over new ideas of integrating Europe's economies and the world struggled with regional conflicts. In 1976, the forum extended membership to CEOs and business executives for "the 1,000 leading companies of the world."

The foundation became the World Economic Forum in 1987.

These days, the global power brokers spend the week mulling over major world challenges and how to solve them. On the sidelines, they meet, greet and make lots of deals. And Schwab, now 74, is still there, opening the conference, moderating panels and getting sworn enemies into conference rooms together.

Yes, it's true. Kings and queens, and a prince or two. King Philippe of Belgium and his wife, Queen Mathilde, and Norway's Crown Prince Haakon and Princess Mette-Marit are on the guest list. King Abdullah II of Jordan and Queen Rania are Davos regulars. Queen Maxima of the Netherlands lends her royal imprimatur and doubles as the U.N.'s special advocate for inclusive finance.. - Read More

What is Davos? 5 things to know about the World Economic Forum

Davos 2018 | World Economic Forum - More