Davos Devils Stalk Buffett, Gates Over the Seven Deadly Sins

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Davos Devils Stalk Buffett, Gates Over the Seven Deadly Sins

Jan. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Is Warren Buffett going to hell?

That's just one of the burning questions that await 2,340 global leaders, including former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. President Lloyd Blankfein and Harvard University President Lawrence Summers, when they huddle in the Swiss Alps tomorrow for the World Economic Forum.

It's shaping up to be one hell of a week in Davos, where the attendees, including 23 theologians and 15 heads of state, kick off the 35th annual powwow with an opening night supper panel that confronts the issue of ``Today's Sinners and the Seven Deadly Sins.'' It's a topic that will be discussed at other seminars and official forum gatherings throughout the five-day conference.

``Gluttony, lust, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride,'' explains sin seminar organizer Vanessa Edwards. The seven deadly sins were enumerated by St. Gregory the Great in the sixth century.

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And the avarice and woes of the rich and famous are clearly a hot topic.

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``Pride, gluttony and greed are the big three downfall sins facing the corporate community,'' says Dutch economist and seven deadly sins panelist Manfred Kets de Vries. ``We do know that Grasso and the executives from Enron and WorldCom are already burning.''

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The devil may be in the details, but there's grace in the loopholes offered by the full-time clergymen at the group's headquarters above a courtyard tucked behind a supermarket. Back in the 18th century, Alponsus Ligouri, an Italian property lawyer who noticed that his wealthy clients were morally bankrupt, figured he had enough raw data to affect the fate of corporate man.

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