Klaus Schwab was the undisputed "King of Davos" for 55 years. But when his downfall came, it was swift.

The 87-year-old founder of the World Economic Forum (WEF), which holds the annual conference in the Swiss alpine ski resort, fought until the end.

But over two days in April, beset by allegations of misusing WEF funds, manipulating research and inappropriate behaviour with staff, he was forced out of his personal fiefdom.

One WEF insider told The Telegraph: "He had the chance to step back 10, seven, five years ago. But he hung on."

On Sunday, the early findings of a second investigation into the WEF were leaked. They alleged that Mr Schwab had misspent WEF money and manipulated research for political reasons, including rigging data to make Brexit look like a failure.

Mr Schwab also allegedly put his crotch in front of a female staffer's face, splurged $50m on a luxury villa and ran up £836,000 in expenses that were not sufficiently linked to WEF activities.

His credibility now lies in ruins and the future of Davos is openly questioned.

Some see the investigation in response to a whistleblower complaint as a barely disguised attempt to push Mr Schwab out. For his part, he denies any wrongdoing.

One person close to the organisation told The Telegraph: "He wasn't perfect, but he has been stitched up because he wouldn't go when people wanted him to go."

Other insiders fear that the push to remove Mr Schwab will come at too high a reputational cost to the WEF itself. "They've used a sledgehammer to crack a nut," one said.

It is an astonishing fall from grace for the former executive chairman, who was awarded an honorary knighthood by the UK in 2006.

The German-born professor built his empire from humble beginnings, establishing the WEF in 1971 as a forum for policymakers and chief executives to discuss global issues.

Over the years it mutated into a magnet for world leaders, capital of fevered dealmaking, byword for elitism and lightning rod for conspiracy theories.

The title of his book "The Great Reset" – about how the pandemic could remake global economies – has become shorthand for online extremists convinced that plots to create a world government are hatched at Davos.

Mr Schwab, the quintessential "Davos Man", was front and centre every year as he welcomed a galaxy of heads of state and government.

They included prime ministers and presidents as different as Angela Merkel and Donald Trump, Emmanuel Macron and Narendra Modi or Baroness May and Vladimir Putin.

At this year's gathering, in January, there was no UK Prime Minister, French president or German chancellor in Davos.