About

This big is now closed, but our energy and willingness to keep fighting for an open, transparent and democratic selection process are still much alive.

In the meantime, and while we get ready for the next process, if you have any questions, suggestions or requests, please email Isabel Alvarez (Bretton Woods Project communications manager) at iavarez@brettonwoodsproject.org

Until next time!


worldbankpresident.org is the site you need to track media coverage, insider gossip, official reactions and civil society activity on the selection of the next World Bank president. If you are a journalist, activist, official, student or anyone wanting to follow the details of this story in real time, you’ve come to the right place.

Everyone is welcome to share the posts via the plethora of social media options available. The site is currently opening to new contributors to post information, opinions, (well founded) gossip, and pose questions. If you have any relevant information or want to become a contributor in the future, please get in touch.

History of this blog

This blog was originally set up in January 2005 when former World Bank president James Wolfensohn announced he would be retiring. We wanted to shine a light on the medieval process for choosing the head of this very powerful institution – the fact that the position has historically been hand-picked by the US government.

We subsequently tracked and informed the global reaction to the Wolfowitz appointment but decided in April 2005 to put the site on ice – but not for long. The predictions on this site about the problems Wolfowitz would cause proved true and in April 2007 we were back for another selection process. We relaunched the website again in January 2012 after rumours started circulating that  Robert Zoellick planned to stand down after only one term at the Bank. The blog followed the ins and outs of what at first seemed like a more transparent selection process, but ultimately led to the appointment of the US choice, Jim Yong Kim.

In 2016 we came back again, a year ahead of the new president election. In a surprise move, the Bank kick-started a sped up process in late August, which once again failed to take on board any of civil society’s long-standing recommendations, and ended with the re-appointment of Jim Yong Kim for another five years.

In January 2019, as Kim “unexpectedly” resigned to join a private investment firm the blog came back with a wave of CSO reactions, posts and letters calling for a merit-based process. However, the gentleman’s agreement proved once more to be alive and well with Trump’s appointee, David Malpass, becoming the Word Bank’s 13th president.

Now in February 2023, after Malpass announced his early departure, by the end of the fiscal year, a space opens for CSOs to push once again for an end to the unjust and undemocratic selection process that have characterised the BWI’s for decades. We hope that the readership will enjoy a lively discussion about the characteristics required of the Bank’s new leader and ensuring the process is finally democratic and transparent.

With new members in our blogging team and masses of energy, we will continue to provide the most active forum for democratic debate about this deeply undemocratic institution, feed journalists tips for stories, inspire activists to ramp up their challenges, and embolden more officials to speak out.

Don’t hesitate to subscribe, get involved or get in touch.

Who runs the blog?

The blog is an open platform – bloggers write in their personal capacities and are not paid.  The small cost of designing and hosting the site is paid for by the Bretton Woods Project – see their annual report for full details about them.

Our promise to you

We will keep your personal information private and secure. We will only contact you with the mail-outs that you have opted in to receive, and we will never pass your information onto another organisation without your explicit permission.

More details can be found in ActionAid’s privacy policy. If you want to make use of a ‘Subject Access Request’ for data worldbankpresident.org may have relating to you, please email your request to contact@worldbankpresident.org with the subject line ‘Subject Access Request’.