Have the Bilderbergers shed their shroud of secrecy?

The Bilderberg Meetings have traditionally been shrouded in secrecy. But this year, for the first time ever, the organisers have published a a full list of the people who attended the event, which was held in the Hotel Dolce, Sitges, 40km southwest of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain form 3-6 June .

The delegate list is available via the new, official Bilderberg Meetings website , which also lists those who attended last year’s meeting held in Vouliagmeni, Greece and lists the subjects debated at Bilderberg meetings since the organisation was founded in 1954.

Perhaps even the Bilderbergers are beginning to recognise te virtues of transparency. It migh neutralize the wilder conspiracy theorists, who have traditionally portrayed the Bilderbergers as an obscurantist neoconservative sect intent on world government.

Of the six British delegates, two were from Barclays Bank, two were from the House of Lords (one of whom is also deputy chairman of Royal Dutch Shell), one was from The Economist and one was from a health quango. Three of the 26 European commissioners were present, including Neelie Kroes, as were two senior executives from Spanish bank Santander.

Th American delegation included retired politicians Robert Rubin, Larry Summers and Henry Kissinger, as well as the buyout king Henry Kravis and the former Microsoft boss Bill Gates.

It has previously been stated that journalists are not allowed to participate in Bilderberg events. I was therefore surprised to see that, according to the Bilderberg Meetings website, three Economist journalists were allowed in this year. These were editor John Micklethwait and business correspondents Vendeline von Bredow and Adrian Wooldridge. The latter two were not officially delegates but “rapporteurs”.

Other journalists and editors who attended the three-day summit included the Finnish journalist Antti Blåfield, Venezulan journalist Moisés Naím, Oscar Bronner, publisher and editor of Austrian newspaper Der Standard and the Turkish journalist Ruşen Çakir. The US television presenter Charlie Rose was also there, as was Canadian TV journalist Peter Mansbridge.

I was particularly surprised that the former Labour and Social Democratic Party politician Shirley Williams showed up at the event. Maybe she was standing in for former stalwart Denis Healey, the former Labour politician and former UK finance minister.

In his autobiography, The Time of My Life, Healey said the annual Bilderberg events were first held in 1954 in order to foster American/European cooperation, and were the brainchild of the Pole, Joseph Retinger. Healey said: “The Bilderberg conferences inevitably aroused jealousy, because they were exclusive, and suspicion, because they were private.

“In America they were attacked as a left-wing plot to subvert the United States, in Europe as a right-wing plot to undermine socialism. They were neither. Immense care was taken to invite a fair balance from all political parties, and to include trade unionists as well as businessmen.”

Final List of Participants

Bilderberg Meetings, June 3rd-6th, 2010

Honorary Chairman
BEL Davignon, Etienne; Vice Chairman, Suez-Tractebel

DEU Ackermann, Josef; Chairman, Deutsche Bank
GBR Agius, Marcus; Chairman, Barclays Bank
ESP Alierta, César; Chairman and CEO, Telefónica
INT Almunia, Joaquín; Commissioner, European Commission
USA Altman, Roger; Chairman, Evercore Partners
USA Arrison, Sonia; Author and policy analyst
SWE Bäckström, Urban; Director General, Confederation of Swedish Enterprise
PRT Balsemão, Francisco Pinto; Chairman & CEO, Impresa; Former Prime Minister
ITA Bernabè, Franco; CEO, Telecom Italia
SWE Bildt, Carl; Minister of Foreign Affairs
FIN Blåfield, Antti; Senior Editorial Writer, Helsingin Sanomat
ESP Botín, Ana; Executive Chairman, Banesto
NOR Brandtzæg, Svein Richard CEO, Norsk Hydro
AUT Bronner, Oscar; Publisher and Editor, Der Standard
TUR Çakir, Ruşen; Journalist
CAN Campbell, Gordon; Premier of British Columbia
ESP Carvajal Urquijo, Jaime Managing Director, Advent International
FRA Castries, Henri de; Chairman and CEO, AXA
ESP Cebrián, Juan Luis; CEO, Prisa
ESP Cisneros, Gustavo; Chairman and CEO, Cisneros
CAN Clark, Edmund; President and CEO, TD Bank
USA Collins, Timothy; CEO, Ripplewood Holdings
ITA Conti, Fulvio; CEO and General Manager, Enel
GRC David, George; Chairman, Coca-Cola H.B.C.
DNK Eldrup, Anders; CEO, Dong Energy
ITA Elkann, John; Chairman, Fiat
DEU Enders, Thomas; CEO, Airbus
ESP Entrecanales, José; Chairman, Acciona
DNK Federspiel, Ulrik; Vice President Global Affairs, Haldor Topsøe
USA Feldstein, Martin; George F. Baker Professor of Economics, Harvard University
USA Ferguson, Niall; Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History, Harvard University
AUT Fischer, Heinz; Federal President
IRL Gallagher, Paul; Attorney General
USA Gates, Bill; Chairman, Microsoft
USA Gordon, Philip; Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs
USA Graham, Donald; Chairman and CEO, The Washington Post
INT Gucht, Karel de; Commissioner, European Commission
TUR Gürel, Damla; Special Adviser to the President on EU Affairs
NLD Halberstadt, Victor; Professor of Economics, Leiden University
USA Holbrooke, Richard; Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan
NLD Hommen, Jan; Chairman, ING
USA Hormats, Robert; Under Secretary for Economic, Energy and Agricultural Affairs
BEL Huyghebaert, Jan; Chairman, KBC Group
USA Johnson, James; Vice Chairman, Perseus
FIN Katainen, Jyrki ; Minister of Finance
USA Keane, John; Senior Partner, SCP Partners
GBR Kerr, John; Member, House of Lords; Deputy Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell
USA Kissinger, Henry; Chairman, Kissinger Associates
USA Kleinfeld, Klaus; Chairman and CEO, Alcoa
TUR Koç, Mustafa; Chairman, Koç Holding
USA Kravis, Henry; founding Partner, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts
USA Kravis, Marie-Josée; Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute
INT Kroes, Neelie; Commissioner, European Commission
USA Lander, Eric; President and Director, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT
FRA Lauvergeon, Anne; Chairman, Areva
ESP León Gross, Bernardino Secretary General, Office of the Prime Minister
DEU Löscher, Peter Chairman, Siemens
NOR Magnus, Birger; Chairman, Storebrand
CAN Mansbridge, Peter; Chief Correspondent, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
USA Mathews, Jessica; President, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
CAN McKenna, Frank; Deputy Chair, TD Bank
GBR Micklethwait, John; Editor-in-Chief, The Economist
FRA Montbrial, Thierry de; President, French Institute for International Relations
ITA Monti, Mario; President, Universita Commerciale Luigi Bocconi
INT Moyo, Dambisa; Economist and Author
USA Mundie, Craig; Chief Research and Strategy Officer, Microsoft Corporation
NOR Myklebust, Egil; Former Chairman of SAS, Norsk Hydro.
USA Naím, Moisés; Editor-in-Chief, Foreign Policy
ESP Nin Génova, Juan María; President and CEO, La Caixa
DNK Nyrup Rasmussen, Poul; Former Prime Minister
GBR Oldham, John; National Clinical Lead for Quality and Productivity
FIN Ollila, Jorma; Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell
USA Orszag, Peter; Director, Office of Management and Budget
TUR Özilhan, Tuncay; Chairman, Anadolu Group
ITA Padoa-Schioppa, Tommaso; Former Minister of Finance; President of Notre Europe
GRC Papaconstantinou, George; Minister of Finance
USA Parker, Sean; Managing Partner, Founders Fund
USA Pearl, Frank; Chairman and CEO, Perseus
USA Perle, Richard; Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
ESP Polanco, Ignacio; Chairman, Grupo Prisa
CAN Prichard, Robert; President and CEO, Metrolinx
NLD Queen Beatrix; H.M. the Queen of the Netherlands
ESP Queen Sofia; H.M. the Queen of Spain
FRA Ramanantsoa, Bernard; Dean, HEC Paris Group
PRT Rangel, Paulo; Member, European Parliament
CAN Reisman, Heather; Chair and CEO, Indigo Books & Music
SWE Renström, Lars; President and CEO, Alfa Laval
NLD Rinnooy Kan, Alexander; Chairman, Social & Economic Council of the Netherlands
ITA Rocca, Gianfelice Chairman, Techint
ESP Rodriguez Inciarte, Matías Executive Vice Chairman, Grupo Santander
USA Rose, Charlie; Producer, Rose Communications
USA Rubin, Robert; Former Secretary of the Treasury
TUR Sabanci Dinçer, Suzan; Chairman, Akbank
ITA Scaroni, Paolo; CEO, Eni
USA Schmidt, Eric; CEO and Chairman of the Board, Google
AUT Scholten, Rudolf Executive Director, Oesterreichische Kontrollbank
DEU Scholz, Olaf; Vice Chairman, SPD
INT Sheeran, Josette; Executive Director, United Nations World Food Programme
INT Solana Madariaga, Javier; Former Secretary General, Council of the EU
USA Steinberg, James B. Deputy Secretary of State
INT Stigson, Björn; President, World Business Council for Sustainable Development
USA Summers, Larry Director, National Economic Council
IRL Sutherland, Peter; Chairman, Goldman Sachs International
GBR Taylor, Martin; Chairman, Syngenta Int’l, Former CEO, Barclays Bank
PRT Teixeira dos Santos, Fernando; Minister of State and Finance
USA Thiel, Peter; President, Clarium Capital Management
GRC Tsoukalis, Loukas; President, ELIAMEP
INT Tumpel-Gugerell, Gertrude; Member of Executive Board, European Central Bank
USA Varney, Christine; Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust
CHE Vasella, Daniel; Chairman, Novartis
USA Volcker, Paul; Chairman, Economic Recovery Advisory Board
CHE Voser, Peter; CEO, Royal Dutch Shell
FIN Wahlroos, Björn; Chairman, Sampo
CHE Waldvogel, Francis; Chairman, Novartis Venture Fund
SWE Wallenberg, Jacob; Chairman, Investor
NLD Wellink, Nout; President, De Nederlandsche Bank
USA West, Bing; Author
GBR Williams, Shirley; Member, House of Lords
USA Wolfensohn, James; Chairman, Wolfensohn & Co
ESP Zapatero, José Luis Rodríguez; Prime Minister
DEU Zetsche, Dieter; Chairman, Daimler
INT Zoellick, Robert; President, The World Bank

Rapporteurs
GBR Bredow, Vendeline von; Business Correspondent, The Economist
GBR Wooldridge, Adrian; Business Correspondent, The Economist

See also this video of one of the protests against the Bilderbergers.

• The new Bilderberg Meetings website can be accessed here
• For clandestine photographs of attendees, see The Guardian’s Bilderberg 2010: Who Were The Delegates?

This blog post was published on 8 June 2010