The Bilderberg Group, Bilderberg conference, Bilderberg meetings or Bilderberg Club is an annual private conference of 120 to 150 people of the European and North American political elite, experts from industry, finance, academia, and the media, established in 1954.

Origin

The first conference was held at the Hotel de Bilderberg in Oosterbeek, Netherlands, from 29 to 31 May 1954.[2] It was initiated by several people, including Polish politician-in-exile Józef Retinger who, concerned about the growth of anti-Americanism in Western Europe, proposed an international conference at which leaders from European countries and the United States would be brought together with the aim of promoting Atlanticism—better understanding between the cultures of the United States and Western Europe to foster cooperation on political, economic, and defense issues.

Retinger approached Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands who agreed to promote the idea, together with former Belgian prime minister Paul van Zeeland, and the then head of Unilever, Dutchman Paul Rijkens. Bernhard in turn contacted Walter Bedell Smith, then head of the CIA, who asked Eisenhower adviser Charles Douglas Jackson to deal with the suggestion.The guest list was to be drawn up by inviting two attendees from each nation, one of each to represent "conservative" and "liberal" points of view. Fifty delegates from 11 countries in Western Europe attended the first conference, along with 11 Americans.

The success of the meeting led the organizers to arrange an annual conference. A permanent steering committee was established with Retinger appointed as permanent secretary. As well as organizing the conference, the steering committee also maintained a register of attendee names and contact details with the aim of creating an informal network of individuals who could call upon one another in a private capacity. Conferences were held in France, Germany, and Denmark over the following three years. In 1957 the first U.S. conference was held on St. Simons Island, Georgia, with $30,000 from the Ford Foundation. The foundation also supplied funding for the 1959 and 1963 conferences.

Activities and goals

The group's original goal of promoting Atlanticism, of strengthening U.S.–European relations and preventing another world war has grown; the Bilderberg Group's theme is to "bolster a consensus around free market Western capitalism and its interests around the globe" according to Andrew Kakabadse. In 2001, Denis Healey, a Bilderberg group founder and a steering committee member for 30 years, said, "To say we were striving for a one-world government is exaggerated, but not wholly unfair. Those of us in Bilderberg felt we couldn't go on forever fighting one another for nothing and killing people and rendering millions homeless. So we felt that a single community throughout the world would be a good thing."

According to the web page of the group, the meetings are conducted under the Chatham House Rule, allowing the participants to use any information they gained during the meeting, but not to disclose the names of the speakers or any other participants. According to former chairman Étienne Davignon in 2011, a major attraction of Bilderberg group meetings is that they provide an opportunity for participants to speak and debate candidly and to find out what major figures really think, without the risk of off-the-cuff comments becoming fodder for controversy in the media. A 2008 press release from the "American Friends of Bilderberg" stated that "Bilderberg's only activity is its annual Conference and that at the meetings, no resolutions were proposed, no votes taken, and no policy statements issued." However, in November 2009 the group hosted a dinner meeting at the Château of Val-Duchesse in Brussels outside its annual conference to promote the candidacy of Herman Van Rompuy for President of the European Council.

Organizational structure

Meetings are organized by a steering committee with two members from each of approximately 18 nations. Official posts include a chairman and an Honorary Secretary General. The group's rules do not contain a membership category but former participants receive the annual conference reports. The only category that exists is "member of the steering committee." Besides the committee, there is a separate advisory group with overlapping membership.

Dutch economist Ernst van der Beugel became permanent secretary in 1960, upon Retinger's death. Prince Bernhard continued to serve as the meeting's chairman until 1976, the year of his involvement in the Lockheed affair. The position of Honorary American Secretary General has been held successively by Joseph E. Johnson of the Carnegie Endowment, William Bundy of Princeton, Theodore L. Eliot Jr., former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, and Casimir A. Yost of Georgetown University's Institute for the Study of Diplomacy.

According to James A. Bill, the "steering committee usually met twice a year to plan programs and to discuss the participant list."

In 2002, author Jon Ronson wrote that the group has a small central office in Holland which each year decides what country will host the forthcoming meeting. The host country then has to book an entire hotel for four days, plus arrange catering, transport and security. To fund this, the host solicits donations from sympathetic corporations such as Barclays, Fiat Automobiles, GlaxoSmithKline, Heinz, Nokia and Xerox.

Participants

About two thirds of the participants come from Europe and the rest from North America; one third from politics and government and the rest from other fields. Historically, attendee lists have been weighted toward bankers, politicians, directors of large businesses and board members from large publicly traded corporations, including IBM, Xerox, Royal Dutch Shell, Nokia and Daimler. Heads of state, including former King Juan Carlos I of Spain and former Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, have attended meetings, A source connected to the group told The Daily Telegraph in 2013 that other individuals, whose names are not publicly issued, sometimes turn up "just for the day" at the group's meeting.

The following is a list of prominent persons who are known to have attended one or more conferences organized by the Bilderberg Group. The list is currently organized by category. It is not a complete list and it includes both living and deceased people. Where known, the year(s) they attended are denoted in brackets.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Royalty

Belgium

• King Philippe of Belgium (2007–2009, 2012)

Commonwealth realms

• Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, Commonwealth realms (1986)
• Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh, Commonwealth realms (1965, 1967)

Netherlands

• Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands (1997, 2000, 2006, 2008–2015)
• Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands (1954–1975) (deceased)
• Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands (2008)

Norway

• King Harald V of Norway (1984)
• Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway (2011)

Spain

• Juan Carlos I of Spain, King of Spain (2004)
• Queen Sofía of Spain (2008–2011)

Politics

Austria

• Werner Faymann (2009, 2011, 2012) Chancellor 2008–2016
• Heinz Fischer (2010, 2015) Federal President 2004–2016
• Alfred Gusenbauer (2007, 2015) Chancellor 2007–2008

Belgium

• Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council
• Paul-Henri Spaak, Former Prime Minister and Secretary General of NATO (1963) (deceased)

Bulgaria

• Nikolai Kamov, Member of Parliament (1999)

Canada

• Mike Harris, (2006), Premier of Ontario 1995–2002
• Bernard Lord, (2006), Premier of New Brunswick 1999–2006
• Gordon Campbell, (2010), Premier of British Columbia 2001–2011
• Nigel S. Wright, (2012) Chief of Staff, Office of the Prime Minister of Canada, 2011–2013
• Alison Redford, (2012), Premier of Alberta 2011-2014
• Frank McKenna, (2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013) Premier of New Brunswick 1987-1997
• Brad Wall, (2013) Premier of Saskatchewan 2007–current

Prime Ministers

• Lester B. Pearson, (1968), Prime Minister of Canada (1963–1968)(deceased)
• Pierre Elliott Trudeau, (1968), Prime Minister of Canada, 1968–1979, 1980–1984 (deceased)
• Jean Chrétien, (1996), Prime Minister of Canada, 1993–2003
• Paul Martin, (1996), Prime Minister of Canada, 2003–2006
• Stephen Harper, (2003), Prime Minister of Canada, 2006–2015

China

• Fu Ying (2011, 2012), Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, former Ambassador to the UK and Australia

Czech Republic

• Karel Schwarzenberg (2008)
• Karel Kovanda (1998)
• Michael Žantovský (1999, 2003)
• Vladimír Dlouhý
• Jiří Pehe (2001)

European Union

European Union Commissioners who have attended include:

• Frits Bolkestein (1996, 2003), former European Commissioner
• Neelie Kroes (2011), EU Commissioner
• Pascal Lamy (2003, 2010), former European Commissioner for Trade, Director-General of the World Trade Organization 2005–present
• Peter Mandelson (1999), (2009), former European Commissioner for Trade 2004–2008
• Pedro Solbes (2010), former European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, former Second Vice President of Spain, former Minister of Economy and Finance
• Karel De Gucht (2015), former EU Trade Commissioner.

Finland

• Eero Heinäluoma (2006), former chairman of the Social Democratic Party, Minister of Finance 2005-2007
• Jyrki Katainen (2007, 2009), chairman of the National Coalition Party, former Minister of Finance and former Prime Minister
• Sauli Niinistö (1997), former Minister of Finance, former Speaker of the Parliament, current President of the Republic
• Alexander Stubb (2015), Minister of Finance, chairman of the National Coalition Party, former Prime Minister
• Jutta Urpilainen (2012, 2013), former Minister of Finance
• Matti Vanhanen (2009), former Prime Minister, former chairman of Centre Party

France

• Gaston Defferre (1964), member of National Assembly and mayor of Marseille (at the time) (deceased)
• Christine Lagarde (2013), Minister of Finance 2007-2011, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund 2011-
• Georges Pompidou, Prime Minister of France 1962-1968, President of the French Republic 1969-1974 (deceased)

Germany

• Guido Westerwelle (2007), Chairman of the Free Democratic Party of Germany and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany.
• Helmut Schmidt, West German Chancellor
• Angela Merkel (2005), German Chancellor
• Joschka Fischer (2008), Foreign Minister 1998-2005
• Peer Steinbrück (2011), German Chancellor Candidate
• Jürgen Trittin (2012), Environment Minister 1998-2005
• Wolfgang Schäuble (2016), Current Finance Minister 
• Stanislaw Tillich (2016), Current Minister President of Saxony 
• Thomas de Maizière (2016), Current Interior Minister 
• Ursula von der Leyen (2016), Current Defence Minister 

Greece

• George Alogoskoufis (2008, 2009), Minister of Economy and Finance 2004-2009
• Dora Bakoyannis (2009), Minister for Foreign Affairs 2006-2009
• Anna Diamantopoulou (2008, 2009), Member of Parliament
• Anastasios Giannitsis (2012), Minister of the Interior (Greece) 2011-2012
• Giorgos Papakonstantinou (2010, 2011), Minister of Finance 2009-2011
• Yannis Papathanasiou (2009), Minister for Economy and Finance 2009
• Yannis Stournaras (2009), Minister of Finance 2012-2013

Iceland

• Bjarni Benediktsson (1965, 1967, 1970), Mayor of Reykjavík 1940–47, Foreign Minister 1947–55, editor of The Morning Paper 1956–59, Minister of Justice and Ecclesiastical Affairs 1959–63, Prime Minister 1963–70 (deceased)
• Björn Bjarnason (1974, 1977), Assistant editor of The Morning Paper 1984–1991, Minister of Education 1995–2002, Minister of Justice and Ecclesiastical Affairs 2003, 2009
• Davíð Oddsson (ca. 1991–1999), Mayor of Reykjavík 1982–1991, Prime Minister 1991–2004, Foreign Minister 2004–2005, Central Bank governor 2005–2009, editor of The Morning Paper as of September 2009
• Einar Benediktsson (ca. 1970), ambassador: OECD 1956–60, UK 1982–1986, European Union et al. 1986–1991, NATO 1986–1990, United States et al. 1993–1997, etc.
• Geir Haarde, Central Bank economist 1977–1983, member and chairman of the Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee 1991–1998, Minister of Finance 1998–2005, Foreign Minister 2005–2006, Prime Minister 2006–2009
• Geir Hallgrímsson (ca. 1974–1977, 1980), Mayor of Reykjavík 1959–72, Prime Minister 1974–1978, Foreign Minister 1983–1986, Central Bank governor 1986–1990 (deceased)
• Jón Sigurðsson (1993), IMF Board of Directors 1974–1987, Minister of Justice and Ecclesiastical Affairs 1987–88, Industry and Commerce 1988–93, Central Bank governor 1993–94, Nordic Investment Bank governor 1994–2005

Ireland

• Garret FitzGerald (1985), former Taoiseach (deceased)
• Paul Gallagher, Attorney General of Ireland
• Dermot Gleeson, former Attorney General of Ireland
• Charlie McCreevy
• Michael McDowell (2007), former Attorney General, former Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform
• Michael Noonan, (2012, 2016), then Minister for Finance.
• Peter Sutherland, Director General of the WTO and former Attorney General of Ireland
• Simon Coveney, (2014), then Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, shortly afterwards became Minister for Defence

Italy

• Enrico Letta, former Prime Minister
• Emma Bonino, former Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank
• Mario Monti, Economist, former Prime Minister
• Renato Ruggiero, former WTO director, politician

Japan

• Nobuo Tanaka (2009), Executive Director of the International Energy Agency 2007-2011

Netherlands

• Ruud Lubbers, Prime Minister 1982-1994
• Wim Kok, Prime Minister 1994-2002
• Jan-Peter Balkenende (2008), Prime Minister 2002-2010
• Maxime Verhagen, Minister
• Mark Rutte, the current Prime Minister
• Alexander Pechtold, leader of D66, a political party
• Kajsa Ollongren , Deputy Mayor of Amsterdam (2016) 

Norway

• Jens Stoltenberg (2002),the former Prime Minister of Norway.
• Kristin Clemet (1999, 2008) Managing Director of the liberal and conservative think tank Civita, Former Minister of Education and Science.
• Geir Lundestad (2005) Director of the Norwegian Nobel institute and Secretary to The Nobel Peace Prize Committee.

Poland

• Józef Retinger (1954 to 1960), Founder and secretary of Bilderberg Group (deceased)
• Andrzej Olechowski (1994, 2004, 2005)
• Hanna Suchocka (1998)
• Jan Vincent-Rostowski (2012)
• Radoslaw Sikorski (2016)

Portugal

• António José Seguro, Politician
• Paulo Portas, Politician
• Luís Amado, Politician
• Paulo Rangel, Politician
• Francisco Pinto Balsemão (1981, 1983–1985, 1987–2008), former Prime Minister of Portugal, 1981–1983 and CEO of Impresa media group
• Manuel Pinho (2009), former Minister of Economy and Innovation
• José Sócrates (2004), former Prime Minister of Portugal
• José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, former Minister of Justice
• Santana Lopes (2004), former Prime Minister of Portugal
• José Manuel Durão Barroso (1994, 2003, 2005, 2013), former Prime Minister of Portugal and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and current President of the European Commission
• Nuno Morais Sarmento, former Minister of Presidency and Minister of Parliament Affairs
• António Costa (2008), former Minister of Interior, former Mayor of Lisbon current Prime Minister of Portugal.
• Rui Rio (2008), former Mayor of Porto
• Manuela Ferreira Leite (2009), former Minister of Education and Minister of Finance and Public Administration
• Augusto Santos Silva, former Minister of Education, Minister of Culture, Minister of Parliament Affairs, and current Minister of National Defence
• Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa (1998), former Minister of Parliament Affairs
• António Guterres (1994), former Prime Minister of Portugal, former President of the Socialist International and current United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
• Ferro Rodrigues, former Minister of Labour and Social Solidarity and Minister of Public Works, Transport and Communications
• Jorge Sampaio, former President of Portugal
• Luís Mira Amaral (1995), former Minister of Labour and Social Solidarity, chairman of Caixa Geral de Depósitos and CEO of Banco Português de Investimento
• Vítor Constâncio (1988), governor of the Banco de Portugal, Vice President of the ECB
• Fernando Teixeira dos Santos (2010), former Minister of Finance
• José Medeiros Ferreira (1977, 1980), former Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Joaquim Ferreira do Amaral (1999), former Minister of Public Works, Transport and Communications
• António Miguel Morais Barreto (1992), former Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries
• João Cravinho, former Minister for Environment, Spatial Planning and Regional Development
• Artur Santos Silva, former vice-governor of the Banco de Portugal, chairman of Banco Português de Investimento and current non-executive chairman of Jerónimo Martins
• Francisco Luís Murteira Nabo, former chairman of Portugal Telecom, Minister of Public Works, Transport and Communications, and current chairman of Galp Energia and president of the Portuguese Economists Association

Spain

• María Dolores de Cospedal (2011), Secretary General of the People's Party
• Bernardino León Gross (2008, 2010, 2011), Secretary General of Office of the Prime Minister
• Miguel Ángel Moratinos (2009), Minister of Foreign Affairs 2004-2010
• Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría (2012), Deputy Prime Minister
• Pedro Solbes (2009), Minister of Economy and Finance 1993-1996, 2004-2009
• José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (2010), Prime Minister 2004–2011

Sweden

• Carl Bildt (2006, 2008, 2009, 2013) Prime Minister 1991–1994, Minister of Foreign Affairs 2006–2014
• Anders Borg (2007, 2013) Minister of Finance 2006–2014
• Thorbjörn Fälldin (1978), Prime Minister 1976–1978
• Maud Olofsson (2008), Minister of Industry 2006–2011
• Fredrik Reinfeldt (2006), Prime Minister 2006–2014
• Mona Sahlin (1996), Head of the Swedish social democratic party 2007–2011

Switzerland

• Christoph Blocher (2009), former Member of Federal Council and former CEO of EMS Group
• Doris Leuthard (2011), Member of Federal Council
• Rolf Schweiger (2011)

Turkey

• Ali Babacan (2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013), Minister of Economic Affairs 2002-2007, Minister of Foreign Affairs 2007-2009, Deputy Prime Minister 2009-2015
• Mehmet Şimşek (2016), Deputy Prime Minister 

United Kingdom

• Shirley Williams (at least 2010, 2013), stateswoman and member, House of Lords; Harvard University Professor; Past President, Chatham House; int'l member, Council on Foreign Relations.
• Helen Goodman (2016)
• Paddy Ashdown (1989), former leader of Liberal Democrats, High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Ed Balls (2006), former Economic Secretary to the Treasury and advisor to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and was Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (2007–2010)
• Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington (Steering Committee member), former Foreign Secretary
• Kenneth Clarke (1993, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2013) Chancellor of the Exchequer 1993–1997, Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform 2008–2010, Lord Chancellor, Secretary of State for Justice 2010–2012, Minister without Portfolio 2012–2014
• Robert Gascoyne-Cecil (Viscount Cranborne) (1997), Leader of the House of Lords 1994–1997
• Denis Arthur Greenhill, Lord Greenhill of Harrow (deceased) (1974),) former Head of Foreign and Commonwealth Office
• Denis Healey (founder and Steering Committee member), former Chancellor of the Exchequer (deceased)
• John Kerr (2008–2013, 2015), member of the House of Lords and Deputy Chairman of Royal Dutch Shell
• Peter Mandelson (1999, 2008, 2009, 2011–2013) Business Secretary (2008–2010)
• John Monks (1996), former TUC General Secretary
• George Osborne (2006, 2007, 2008 2009, 2013) Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer (2004–2010), Chancellor of the Exchequer (2010-2016)
• David Owen (1982), former British Foreign Secretary and leader of the Social Democratic Party
• Enoch Powell, (deceased) (1968), MP and Ulster Unionist
• Malcolm Rifkind (1996), former Foreign Secretary
• Eric Roll (1964, 1966, 1967, 1973–1975, 1977–1999) (Bilderberg Steering Committee), Department of Economic Affairs, 1964, later Bilderberg Group Chairman (deceased)
• David Hannay, Baron Hannay of Chiswick (1995), Diplomatic posts at European Union and United Nations.
• John Smith (1989) (deceased), Labour Party leader

Prime Ministers

• Tony Blair (1993), Prime Minister 1997–2007
• Gordon Brown (1991), Prime Minister 2007– 2010
• Edward Heath, Prime Minister 1970–1974 (deceased)
• Alec Douglas-Home (1977–1980), Chairman of the Bilderberg Group, Prime Minister 1963–1964 (deceased)
• Margaret Thatcher (at least 1975, 1977, 1986), Prime Minister 1979–1990 (deceased)
• David Cameron (2013) Prime Minister 2010-2016

United States

• Thomas E. Donilon (2012), Executive Vice President for Law and Policy at Fannie Mae (1999–2005), National Security Advisor (2010 – 2013)
• Roger Altman (2011, 2012, 2013), Deputy Treasury Secretary from 1993–1994, Founder and Chairman of Evercore Partners
• George W. Ball (1954, 1993), Under Secretary of State 1961–1968, Ambassador to U.N. 1968 (deceased)
• Sandy Berger (1999), National Security Advisor, 1997–2001
• Hillary Clinton (1997), First Lady of the USA when attending, later 67th United States Secretary of State
• Timothy Geithner (2008, 2009), Treasury Secretary
• Dick Gephardt (2012), former Congressman and House Majority Leader
• Lee H. Hamilton (1997), former Congressman
• Christian Herter, (1961, 1963, 1964, 1966), 53rd United States Secretary of State (deceased)
• Charles Douglas Jackson (1957, 1958, 1960), Special Assistant to the President (deceased)
• Joseph E. Johnson (1954), President Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (deceased)
• Henry Kissinger (1957, 1964, 1966, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1977, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015), 56th United States Secretary of State
• Mark G. Mazzie (1986, 1987), Chief of Staff, The Honorable George C. Wortley, U.S. House of Representatives.
• Richard Perle (2011), Chairman of the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee 2001–2003, United States Assistant Secretary of Defense 1981–1987
• Colin Powell (1997), 65th United States Secretary of State
• Condoleezza Rice (2008), 66th United States Secretary of State
• George P. Shultz (2008), 60th United States Secretary of State
• Lawrence Summers, Director of the National Economic Council
• Paul Volcker (2010), Chair of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board and Chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1979–1987
• Terry Wolfe (2010), author and former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
• Robert Zoellick (2008–2015), former Trade Representative, former Deputy Secretary of State and former President of the World Bank Group

Presidents

• George H.W Bush (1989,1992)
• Bill Clinton (1991), President 1993–2001
• Gerald Ford (1964, 1966), President 1974–1977 (deceased)

Senators

• Tom Daschle (2008), Senator from South Dakota 1987-2005
• John Edwards (2004), Senator from North Carolina 1999–2005
• Chuck Hagel (1999, 2000), Senator from Nebraska 1997–2009, Secretary of Defense 2013–2015.
• John Kerry (2012), 68th United States Secretary of State and Senator from Massachusetts (1985–2013)
• Sam Nunn (1996, 1997), Senator from Georgia 1972–1997
• Lindsey Graham (2016), Senator from South Carolina since 2003

Governors

• Mitchell Daniels (2012) Governor of Indiana 2004–2013
• Jon Huntsman, Jr. (2012), Governor of Utah 2005–2009
• Rick Perry (2007), Governor of Texas 2000–2015
• Mark Sanford (2008), Governor of South Carolina 2003–2011
• Kathleen Sebelius (2008), Governor of Kansas 2003-2009, Secretary of Health and Human Services 2009-2014.

Military

Norway

• Jens Stoltenberg (2015), Secretary General of NATO, since 2014

Netherlands

• Jaap de Hoop Scheffer (2010), former Secretary General of NATO

United Kingdom

• Colin Gubbins (1955, 1957, 1958, 1963, 1964, 1966), head of the British SOE (deceased)

United States

• Lyman Lemnitzer (1963), Supreme Allied Commander NATO 1963–1969 (deceased)
• Alexander Haig (1978), NATO Commander 1974–1979 (US Secretary of State 1981–1982) (deceased)
• Keith B. Alexander (2012), Commander US Cyber Command; Director, National Security Agency.
• David Petraeus (2013), former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency

Financial institutions

Austria

• Andreas Treichl (2009), CEO of Erste Bank
• Rudolf Scholten (2010), Member of the Board of Executive Directors, Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG
• Walter Rothensteiner (2011) CEO of Raiffeisen Zentralbank

Canada

• Neil McKinnon, (1965), President of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC).
• Louis Rasminsky, (1968), third Governor of the Bank of Canada from 1961 to 1973. (deceased)
• Frank McKenna, (2006, 2008, 2010, 2012), Deputy Chair of TD Bank Financial Group, Canadian Ambassador to the United States 2005–2006, Premier of New Brunswick 1987–1997
• Marcel Faribault, (1966), Canadian notary, businessman and administrator, he became president of Trust Général du Canada. (deceased)
• Mark Carney, (2011, 2012), Governor of the Bank of England from July 2013 on, eighth governor of the Bank of Canada from 2008 to 2013 and the Chairman of the Financial Stability Board, an institution of the G20 based in Basel, Switzerland.
• Clark, Edmund, (2008, 2010, 2011, 2012), President and CEO, TD Bank Financial Group

France

• Henri de Castries (2008–2015), Chairman and CEO of AXA
• Jean-Claude Trichet (2008, 2009, 2010) President of the European Central Bank 2003–2011

Germany

• Siegmund Warburg (1977) (deceased)

Greece

• Takis Arapoglou (2009), former Chairman and CEO of National Bank of Greece

Netherlands

• Wim Duisenberg, former European Central Bank President (deceased)

Poland

• Sławomir Sikora (2004) – CEO of Citibank

Portugal

• Antonio Nogueira Leite (Portuguese) (2011), Economist
• Francisco Pinto Balsemão, media businessman

Spain

• Ana P. Botín (2010), Chairman of Banesto
• Juan María Nin Génova (2009-2012), CEO of La Caixa
• Matías Rodríguez Inciarte (2010), Vice Chairman of Santander Group

Turkey

• Suzan Sabancı Dinçer (2009, 2010), Chairman of Akbank

United Kingdom

• Gordon Richardson, (1966, 1975) former Governor of the Bank of England (deceased)
• Douglas Flint (2016) Group Chairman, HSBC Holdings plc 

United States

• David Rockefeller, Sr. (2008, 2009, 2011), Former Chairman, Chase Manhattan Bank (deceased)
• William Joseph McDonough (1997), former President, Federal Reserve Bank of New York
• Ben Bernanke (2008, 2009), Chairman of the Board of Governors of the United States Federal Reserve
• Paul Volcker (1982, 1983, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1992, 1997, 2009, 2010), former Chairman of the Federal Reserve

Corporations

Belgium

• Rolf Soiron (2011), CEO of Holcim Ltd.

Finland

• Jorma Ollila (1997, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013), current Non-Executive Chairman of Royal Dutch Shell and former Chairman of Nokia Corporation.

France

• Michel Bon, former CEO of France Telecom
• Tom Enders (2011), CEO of Airbus
• André Lévy-Lang, (French) former CEO of Paribas

Germany

• Josef Ackermann (2008–2011, 2013), CEO of Deutsche Bank
• Otto Wolff von Amerongen, Chairman Otto Wolff GmbH.
• Klaus Kleinfeld (2008–2013), Chairman and CEO of Alcoa
• Jürgen E. Schrempp (1994–1996, 1997), 1998, 1999, 2001–2005, 2006, 2007), former CEO of DaimlerChrysler

Greece

• George A. David (2009-2011), Chairman of Coca-Cola Hellenic
• Dimitris Papalexopoulos (2008, 2009, 2012), Managing Director of Titan Cement

Iceland

• Hörður Sigurgestsson, former CEO of shipping line Eimskip, former chairman and CFO of Icelandair

Ireland

• Denis O'Brien, Billionaire with a variety of business interests (including Digicel, Communicorp, Independent News & Media, Irish Water and Topaz Energy)
• Michael O'Leary, CEO of Ryanair

Italy

• Giovanni Agnelli (1997), Honorary Chairman of Fiat Automobiles (deceased)
• Umberto Agnelli (1997), Chairman of IFIL (deceased)
• Franco Bernabè (2011, 2013), CEO of Telecom Italia
• John Elkann (2008–2012, 2014, 2015), Chairman of Fiat

Netherlands

• Paul Rijkens (Dutch) Former Chairman of Unilever (deceased)

Norway

• Jens Chr. Hauge (member of the group's board; industrialist, who resigned as minister of justice in 1955; minister of defence appointment in 1945)

Poland

• Jacek Szwajcowski (2004, 2005) – CEO of Polska Grupa Farmaceutyczna (Polish Pharmaceutical Group)

Portugal

• Manuel Ferreira de Oliveira, CEO of Galp Energia
• Ricardo Salgado, CEO of Banco Espírito Santo

Russia

• Anatoly Chubais (1998, 2012), head of the Russian Nanotechnology Corporation
• Alexei Mordashov (2011), CEO of Severstal
• Ilya Tretyakov (2015), CEO of Severstal

Spain

• César Alierta (2010), Chairman and CEO of Telefónica
• Jaime Carvajal Urquijo (2010), Chairman of Advent International
• José Manuel Entrecanales (2009, 2010), Chairman of Acciona

Sweden

• Percy Barnevik (1992–1996, 1997, 2001), former CEO of ASEA
• Jacob Wallenberg (2006, 2013) Chairman of Investor AB
• Hans Stråberg (2006), CEO of Electrolux

Switzerland

• Peter Brabeck-Letmathe (2011), Chairman of Nestlé
• André Kudelski (2011) Director of Nestlé, CEO of the Kudelski Group
• Daniel Vasella (2008–2013), Chairman of Novartis
• Peter Voser (2010, 2013), CEO of Royal Dutch Shell

Turkey

• Süreyya Ciliv (2011), CEO of Turkcell
• Mustafa Koç (2008–2013), Chairman of Koç Holding
• Tuncay Özilhan (2010), Chairman of Anadolu Group
• Şefika Pekin (2011), attorney
• Serpil Timuray (2012), CEO of Vodafone Turkey
• Agah Uğur (2009), CEO of Borusan Holding

United Kingdom

• Marcus Agius, Chairman of Barclays (2011, 2013)
• Hinesh C Parmar (2008–2014) 2005), President of ParmarCorp
• Lord Browne of Madingley (1995, 1997, 2004), Chief Executive of BP
• Peter Sutherland (1989–1996, 1997, 2005), former Chairman of BP
• Martin Taylor (1993–1996, 1997, 2013), former CEO of Barclays

United States

• Jeff Bezos (2011, 2013), Founder and CEO of Amazon.com
• Timothy C. Collins (2008–2012), CEO of Ripplewood Holdings
• Bill Gates (2010), Chairman of Microsoft
• Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., former CEO of IBM
• H. J. Heinz II (1954), CEO of H. J. Heinz Company (deceased)
• Chris Hughes (2011), Co-founder of Facebook
• Donald E. Graham (2008–2010), CEO and Chairman of The Washington Post Company, Board of Directors for Facebook
• Henry Kravis (2008–2015), Co-founder, Co-Chairman and Co-CEO of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts
• Eric Schmidt (2008, 2010, 2011, 2013–2016), CEO and Chairman of Google
• Peter Thiel (2007-2016), President of Clarium Capital and PayPal co-founder
• David M. Cote (2016), Chairman and CEO of Honeywell

Venezuela

• Gustavo Cisneros (2010), Chairman of Grupo Cisneros

Academic

Switzerland

• Beatrice Weder di Mauro, (2016), Professor of Economics, University of Mainz 

Canada

• James Orbinski, (2011), Professor of Medicine and Political Science, University of Toronto, he was President of the International Council of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF, aka Doctors Without Borders) at the time the organization received the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize.

China

• Huang Yiping (2011, 2012), Professor of Economics, China Center for Economic Research, Peking University

Finland

• Matti Apunen (2015), Director of the Finnish Business and Policy Forum EVA
• Leena Mörttinen (2015), Executive Director of the Family Business Network Finland

France

• C. Fred Bergsten (1971, 1974, 1984, 1997), President, Peterson Institute
• Thierry de Montbrial, Director of the Institut Français des Relations Internationales

Greece

• Loukas Tsoukalis (2009-2012), President of the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy

Netherlands

• Victor Halberstadt (2000-2012), Professor of Economics, Leiden University; Former Honorary Secretary General of Bilderberg Meetings
• Robbert Dijkgraaf (2013), mathematical physicist, director and Leon Levy professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, professor at the University of Amsterdam.

Russia

The only Russian participant at the Bilderberg-2015 meeting is Professor of Economics Sergei Guriev.

United States

• Richard Pipes (1981), Senior Staff Member, National Security Council

Media

Austria

• Oscar Bronner (2008 2010, 2013), 2009, 2010, 2011) Publisher and Editor, Der Standard

Canada

• Peter Mansbridge, (2010), CBC's chief correspondent and anchor of The National, CBC Television's flagship nightly newscast.
• Conrad Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour, (1981, 1983, 1985–1996), Hollinger International, Inc., Author and former media magnate. (1997),
• Robert Prichard, (2010), the president of Ontario's Metrolinx.
• Heather Reisman, (2000 – present), CEO of Chapters/Indigo, Co-Founder of the Heseg Foundation.
• David Frum, (1997), Canadian American journalist and a former economic speechwriter for President George W. Bush.

Denmark

• Tøger Seidenfaden (1999, 2001–03), editor-in-chief, Politiken (deceased)

France

• Nicolas Beytout, (French) Editor of Le Figaro (France)
• Erik Izraelewicz (2012), CEO of Le Monde (deceased)

Greece

• Alexis Papahelas (2008, 2009), Managing editor of Kathimerini

Italy

• Carlo Rossella (1997), Editor, La Stampa
• Lilli Gruber (2012), Journalist – Anchorwoman, La7

Norway[edit]

• Per Egil Hegge (1999), journalist, editor, author

Poland

• Anne Applebaum (2015), journalist, author

Portugal

• Clara Ferreira Alves (2011), journalist, Expressso newspaper (flagship of Impresa media group)

Spain

• Juan Luis Cebrián (2008-2012), CEO of PRISA

Switzerland

• Michael Ringier (2009), Chairman of Ringier
• Pietro Supino (2012), Chairman of Tamedia

Turkey

• Sami Kohen (2009), Senior Foreign Affairs Columnist of Milliyet

United Kingdom

• Will Hutton (1997), former CEO of The Work Foundation and editor-in-chief for The Observer
• Andrew Knight (1996), journalist, editor, and media baron

United States

• William F. Buckley, Jr. (1996), columnist and founder of National Review (deceased)
• Charlie Rose (2008, 2010, 2011, 2012), Executive Editor and Anchor, ‘Charlie Rose’
• George Stephanopoulos (1996, 1997), Former Communications Director of the Clinton Administration (1993–1996), now ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent.
• Fouad Ajami (2012), Senior Fellow, The Hoover Institution, Stanford University

Criticism

Partly because of its working methods to ensure strict privacy, the Bilderberg Group has been criticised for its lack of transparency and accountability. The undisclosed nature of the proceedings have given rise to several conspiracy theories. This outlook has been popular on both extremes of the political spectrum, even if they disagree about the exact nature of the group's intentions. Some on the left accuse the Bilderberg group of conspiring to impose capitalist domination, while some on the right have accused the group of conspiring to impose a world government and planned economy.

In 2005, Davignon discussed accusations of the group striving for a one-world government with the BBC: "It is unavoidable and it doesn't matter. There will always be people who believe in conspiracies but things happen in a much more incoherent fashion. …When people say this is a secret government of the world I say that if we were a secret government of the world we should be bloody ashamed of ourselves."

In a 1994 report Right Woos Left, published by the Political Research Associates, investigative journalist Chip Berlet argued that right-wing populist conspiracy theories about the Bilderberg group date back as early as 1964 and can be found in Phyllis Schlafly's self-published book A Choice, Not an Echo, which promoted a conspiracy theory in which the Republican Party was secretly controlled by elitist intellectuals dominated by members of the Bilderberg group, whose internationalist policies would pave the way for world communism.

In August 2010, former Cuban president Fidel Castro wrote a controversial article for the Cuban Communist Party newspaper Granma in which he cited Daniel Estulin's 2006 book The Secrets of the Bilderberg Club, which, as quoted by Castro, describes "sinister cliques and the Bilderberg lobbyists" manipulating the public "to install a world government that knows no borders and is not accountable to anyone but its own self." Proponents of Bilderberg conspiracy theories in the United States include individuals and groups such as the John Birch Society, political activist Phyllis Schlafly, writer Jim Tucker, political activist Lyndon LaRouche, radio host Alex Jones, American comedian Bill Burr, and politician Jesse Ventura, who made the Bilderberg group a topic of a 2009 episode of his TruTV series Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura. Non-American proponents include Lithuanian writer Daniel Estulin.

Concerns about lobbying have arisen. Ian Richardson sees Bilderberg as the transnational power elite, "an integral, and to some extent critical, part of the existing system of global governance", that is "not acting in the interests of the whole"