ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the institutionalization of the Bilderberg Group. It examines Bilderberg's organizational structures: its leadership, steering committee, membership, and finances. The chapter argues that the atmospherics of the Bilderberg conferences were part of the secret of Bilderberg's success and ends with a discussion of Bilderberg's influence in the context of the wider informal alliance. Since the Bilderberg meetings took place in different countries each year, steering committee members were also involved in the organization of the meeting when it took place in their home country. In 1955, the Ford Foundation agreed to give substantial financial support to the Bilderberg Group. In terms of private or public-private organizations, Bilderberg was part of a strong movement towards informal transnational interchanges and networks, a movement that reflected the global mindset and internationalism of the emerging transatlantic elite. Membership in these networks overlapped, creating a dense web of transnational relationships and linkages: an informal alliance.
