Secretive Bilderberg Gathering of Global Elites Kicks Off: See Who’s Attending

Protesters talk with police outside the steel fence set up around the 2013 Bilderberg Group meeting in London, on June 6, 2013. Simon Gross/Ben Dome

The 69th Bilderberg Meeting, a secretive conclave of global power brokers, has kicked off in Lisbon, Portugal, with issues on the agenda including transnational threats, artificial intelligence, and America’s leadership in world affairs.

This year’s meeting, the latest in a series that began in 1954, continues to blur the lines between open diplomacy and clandestine elitism as political leaders brush shoulders with industry bigwigs, media barons, and finance tycoons.