New Delhi, Feb. 26 -- The president and CEO of the World Economic Forum, Borge Brende, announced on Thursday that he was resigning, a few weeks after the forum initiated an independent investigation into his association with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Brende, who became president of the WEF in 2017, announced his decision in a statement following disclosures from the US Justice Department that showed the Norwegian had three business dinners with Epstein and had also communicated with the disgraced financier via email and text message.

Born in 1965, Brende served as the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Trade and Industry, and Minister of Climate and the Environment. He was the Deputy Chairman of the Norwegian Conserv...