NEW YORK (AP) — The media company Semafor is planning a Washington economic conference for global CEOs this April that it hopes will rival the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, for influence.
Semafor said Wednesday that more than 200 CEOs have already committed to attend the event, now in its third year, representing an explosion of interest it credits in large part to curiosity about the policies of President Donald Trump.
“It is really turning into what will be the closest thing to what Davos has accomplished in Switzerland,” said Justin B. Smith, co-founder and CEO of Semafor. The conference is scheduled for April 23-25.
The event illustrates the growing importance of special events for media companies, a focus of Semafor's leaders since the company started earlier this decade.
A similar Washington conference two years ago brought together about 50 CEOs, and leadership attendance expanded to about 75 in 2024. While that growth showed interest in monitoring regulatory efforts in Washington, there's little doubt what has propelled the interest this year, Smith said.
“Trump's election has added fuel to the project's acceleration and growth,” Smith said.
Semafor hopes that Trump administration officials also attend, adding to the news value, but none have been booked yet, with the president's team still staffing up. Semafor's journalists will help lead a series of discussions on topics like global finance, energy, growth and the tech revolution.
With other finance leaders and spectators, Semafor is hoping for about 5,000 people to attend its conference. Leaders of Netflix, FedEx, Instacart, Mattel, United Airlines, Whole Foods and WeWork are among the confirmed attendees, the company said.
The event is co-chaired by David Rubenstein, co-founder of the Carlyle Group;, Henry Kravis, co-founder of KKR; Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel; and former U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker.
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David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social