The outgoing chairman of the Munich Security Conference (MSC), Wolfgang Ischinger, defends himself against a report by “Spiegel” that he is said to have earned money from the conference through a consulting firm
At the start of the Munich Security Conference (MSC), outgoing chairman Wolfgang Ischinger rejected the accusation that he had used his position for his own financial gain. the mirror had reported that the “Agora Strategy Group” consulting firm, which Ischinger co-founded in 2015, had offered appointments and contacts to MSC participants as part of so-called side events for sale. Ischinger, like that mirrorhave given his 30 percent stake in the company to a trustee, but still benefit from its business activities to this day.
In an interview with Bayerischer Rundfunk, Ischinger called the allegations “completely absurd”. He “did not personally benefit at all” from the security conference. Leading the conference has become an “absolute full-time job” for him, for which he receives an expense allowance but no salary, said the 75-year-old former diplomat.
The security conference is not a state event, but is deliberately organized as a private event that is financed with the help of donations. According to Ischinger, sponsors are therefore an integral part of the conference, and their contributions are reported in the annual report. Ischinger has significantly expanded the circle of sponsors over the course of his 14 years of activity, thereby reducing the financial support for the conference from the federal government. So that none of the private sponsors gain too much influence, the contributions of the individual financiers are “less than ten percent”.
According to Ischinger, the sponsors would be offered networking opportunities. He must be able to explain to a company “that is perhaps willing to pay hundreds of thousands of euros every year” that they shouldn’t just do this for charity reasons, “but that perhaps something could come out of it through discussions on the sidelines of the conference,” said Ischinger.
In order to avoid any conflict of interest, he deliberately handed over his shares in the “Agora Strategy Group” to a trustee. He himself has “no influence” on the activities of the consulting firm and has never received a salary or financial support from her. Ischinger’s successor as MSC chairman will be the diplomat and longtime Merkel confidante Christoph Heusgen.