Boardroom Talk: New FMF CEO’s moment of fame suggests he’s ill-suited to filling Leon Louw’s shoes

Sadly, the Free Market Foundation is not the Leon Louw show anymore. After a well-documented fracas where those the co-founder appointed knifed their near 50-year Caesar, Louw is now very much out the FMF picture. His successor, announced last week, is one David Ansara, described by its chairman as "a deeply committed classic liberal…who brings a well-respected and regarded reputation…. and considered, informed intelligence.".Yarwellnofine..Ansara may well be all those things to the Louw-sans FMF. But after watching his 15 minutes of fame, forgive my scepticism. The new FMF CEO is the host of a viral video. It shot to YouTube prominence, and almost a million views, via a click-bait headline (their capitals) which reads: "You will OWN NOTHING and you will be HAPPY"..___STEADY_PAYWALL___.Catchy. But the content is agenda-driven and intellectually sloppy. Its thesis is founded on selective quotation from one of many social media videos produced by the World Economic Forum. This one, from 2016, is beloved by illuminati and other conspiracy theorists. This one and a half minute video carries eight predictions for 2030 made by members of the WEF's grandly named Global Future Councils, one of many talk shops..The WEF video's full quotation reads: "You'll own nothing. And you'll be happy. What you want you'll rent, and it'll be delivered by drone." The prediction expanded on a trend, especially among the young, of renting rather than owning. Fair enough. But agenda-driven conspiracy theorists extract only the first two sentences, morphing them into a WEF game plan for global domination –claiming it proves 'elites' intend stealing assets of we lesser folk..That's ludicrous. The WEF hosts an annual gathering (ie 'forum') annually in Davos where it invites the world's best in their field to share their wisdom. It is funded by global CEOs who pay a small fortune to attend the ultimate networking experience. WEF founder Klaus Schwab (84) is a world class schmoozer, the ultimate diplomat, but as far removed from an evil mastermind as Malema is from servant leadership..Sceptical? Please read the Reuters fact check on the topic by clicking here. Ansara will have to do far, far better in future to have any chance of filling Leon Louw's huge shoes..More for you to read today: .Stock hedges that won big in 2020 misfire in this downturn A practical way to make sense of all the shocks hammering the global economy Apple pause, Lyft layoffs herald new phase of tech austerity Financial Times Perspective: This will be the mother of all American midterm elections Europe's imperfect options for transforming its energy markets The Gupta's dairy project could come back to kick Zwane in the teethOpportunities around SA's Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement Government incompetence and electoral irony – Johannes Wessels

Boardroom Talk: New FMF CEO’s moment of fame suggests he’s ill-suited to filling Leon Louw’s shoes

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