Bilderberg Group

The Bilderberg Group has convened annual, invitation-only conferences of roughly 120 to 150 political leaders, financiers, industrialists, media executives, and royalty since its first meeting at the Hotel de Bilderberg in the Netherlands in 1954. Meetings operate under the Chatham House Rule: participants may use the information received, but nothing may be attributed. No minutes are published, no press conferences are held, and attendees hold public office while deliberating in private. Official attendee lists and agenda topics have been published since the 2010s under transparency pressure. Files tagged Bilderberg Group document confirmed attendance, the group’s origins among Cold War Atlanticists, and the accountability questions raised when serving officials meet the world’s largest corporations off the record.