The biggest investing and life lessons I learned at Davos 2025

January 26, 2025

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A full week each year at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, is comparable to stuffing 15 people into a four-person Chevy Bolt.

It’s a lot.

The entire week is really a blur — at least for journalists such as yours truly. Hundreds of conversations with people you’ve never met before. And hundreds more conversations with people you do know. There are breakfasts, lunches, and dinners where you meet hundreds more people.

There is an insane amount of information, from public comments by top leaders to off-the-record shade being tossed to bodily clues on future earnings.

I personally don’t gather my thoughts on what I learned until the week after WEF.

But having just completed my sixth WEF, I’ve learned that by the end of the week, certain themes emerge. And I always do my best to bring you into this world.

One theme again this year was the advancement in AI. Last year was the year of AI being created — this is the year leaders showed up to discuss the real impacts it’s having.

“Say goodbye to call centers,” one industrial exec told me at an event.

Noted economist Nouriel Roubini suggested we may have robot husbands/boyfriends and wives/girlfriends in the not-too-distant future.

Noted economist Nouriel Roubini (right) taping an episode of Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid podcast at the Nasdaq house at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Roubini thinks the world isn't too far away from having digital companions.
Noted economist Nouriel Roubini (right) taping an episode of Yahoo Finance’s Opening Bid podcast at the Nasdaq house at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Roubini thinks the world isn’t too far away from having digital companions. · Yahoo Finance

I kept it moving on the Opening Bid podcast from the Nasdaq house on the promenade when he brought this up…

Naturally, President Trump dominated WEF, from what people thought about his new meme coin (hedge fund investor Anthony Scaramucci told me it is basically garbage) to how tariffs will upend businesses (it may increase the cost of a shirt, Gap (GAP) CEO Richard Dickson and Ralph Lauren (RL) CEO Patrice Louvet told me).

This year for my Davos recap, I thought I would serve up more of an evergreen guide to being a better investor or leader based on what I learned on the ground. Just some quick nuggets of wisdom, if you will.

Catch up on what you missed from our Davos coverage on our new hub.

Don’t compromise your values as a leader: Clearly, Meta (META) founder Mark Zuckerberg sold out (he isn’t alone in Big Tech…). Zuck has chosen his own wealth and that of his shareholders by rolling back DEI initiatives to curry favor with President Trump. Some will say that’s just smart business, others will say it’s wrong.

I liked what Nasdaq Inc. (NDAQ) CEO Adena Friedman — who has been championing boardroom diversity — told me on Opening Bid: “I can say for Nasdaq, we’re very proud of what we do. We feel very good about the results that we’ve been able to achieve in terms of creating that culture of inclusivity and belonging. And I think a lot of companies feel the same way I do, and it’s just going to be a little bit quieter.”

Don’t get left holding the bag: Talks about new meme coins from President Trump and Melania Trump dominated a lot of parties. So did concerns about current stock valuations. Skybridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci offered up a reminder to investors who tend to get sucked into the next hot asset or hold hot stocks for too long: “Our society is always going to have gambling. Our society is always going to have smoking and alcohol.”

Investors could be left “holding the bag” on both coins amid volatile swings in value, “The Mooch” thinks.

Stay diversified, please: Billionaire investor and Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio was full of investing wisdom when he showed up to an Opening Bid taping late in the evening. Dalio was game on, voicing concerns on US debt levels and stock valuations. I point-blank asked Dalio how someone could go about becoming a better investor.

Here’s what he said: “The most important thing is realizing that competing in the market, there’s alpha and there is beta. To get alpha, you have to take it away from somebody else, right? Beta means there’s an asset class. So first, be humble. Second, diversify well because you don’t pay a cost for the diversification, but you have to know how to risk-balance your investments to diversify. Also, get away from the notion that investments which have done well recently are better investments, rather than more expensive. You have to know the difference between an investment that has gone up a lot and one that has done well.”

On to Davos 2026!

Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance’s Executive Editor. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi, Instagram and on LinkedIn. Tips on stories? Email brian.sozzi@yahoofinance.com.

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