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You know this: the world is not governed by those who govern it, but by those who sit next to the ones governing—and who, in gala photographs, stand in the second row, slightly behind and at an angle, next to the ones governing. Before I confront you with theories and other steep theses, I’ll tell you something about the places where these whisperers gather.
I’ve picked out a few clubs—or let’s call them associations, think tanks, conversation rooms, whatever you like—that you should know on your journey into high culture.
Please keep in mind: it’s not quite that simple to report on them. Many of these associations are not public. There are rumours and hearsay, but they often remain a myth. I’m limiting myself here to publicly accessible information; forgive me if your favourite organisation doesn’t appear. Perhaps it is—just as you will already suspect—not easy to grasp at all, and you have already acquired expert knowledge.
Still, there are names that function as ciphers. Places you don’t say out loud to show off, but to check whether the other person carries the same map. Five of them—I’ll show you:
London — White’s
White’s was founded in 1693 and began as a chocolate house run by the Italian immigrant Francesco Bianco. In the 18th century, the place developed into one of the central meeting points of the British elite. Since 1778, the club has been located on St James’s Street, the historic centre of London’s gentlemen’s clubs. Since the late 18th century, White’s has been considered an unofficial Tory milieu. Memberships of British monarchs are publicly known. To this day, the club is extremely selective, tradition-conscious, and oriented toward continuity.
What the public record does describe is the mechanism: you need a proposer and seconders, your name sits out for members to sign, discreet, and election follows the old ballot logic.
What you won’t find is a “price list”; if money were the real hurdle, it wouldn’t work as a filter.
Paris — Le Siècle
Le Siècle was founded in 1944 by the journalist Georges Bérard-Quélin, immediately after the liberation of Paris. The club has no house of its own, but organises monthly dinners, traditionally in the area around Place de la Concorde. Le Siècle understands itself as a cross-party circle: members come from politics, business, media, and culture. Admission happens through co-optation and an internal vote. The club’s influence lies less in a place than in the density of the people who take part.
The dinner is often reported as taking place at the French Automobile Club at Place de la Concorde—one meal a month, tightly curated; the “address” is almost irrelevant.
As with most dinner-circles that matter, the hard numbers are not the point; the method is.
New York — CORE:
CORE was founded in 2005 by Jennie Enterprise and sees itself as a curated private members’ club for business, media, and culture. The club is accessible exclusively to members and operates with sharply limited admissions. What is publicly known are very high membership fees, depending on level, reaching into the six-figure range. CORE combines club rooms with work, dining, and event spaces, and is considered a modern space of power and networking for New York’s elite.
The numbers, at least, are unusually talkative: public reporting repeatedly places membership in a range of roughly $15,000 up to $100,000 per year, depending on tier and access.
Hong Kong — The Hong Kong Club
The Hong Kong Club was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest clubs in Asia. Historically, it was a meeting point for leading representatives of administration, trade, and finance. To this day the club is located in the Central District, the city’s centre of power and business. Members are admitted exclusively by invitation and vote. The Hong Kong Club is considered formal, strictly ritualised, and strongly committed to discretion.
Even the club’s own public wording stays on-message: membership is by invitation and ballot.
A clean, public fee table is typically not the thing these institutions optimise for; the gate is social, not transactional.
