George Soros

George Soros, born György Schwartz on August 12, 1930, is a Hungarian-American billionaire hedge fund manager and philanthropist. He survived the Nazi occupation of Hungary and later moved to the United Kingdom for his education.

In 1947, George Soros moved to the United Kingdom after surviving the Nazi occupation of Hungary. He pursued his education in the UK, studying at the London School of Economics.

In 1956, George Soros moved to the United States and ventured into the world of finance and investments, eventually achieving great success in the field.

In 1969, George Soros established his first hedge fund called Double Eagle. This fund later evolved into the Quantum Fund, which became his primary hedge fund.

In 1970, George Soros established his own hedge fund, marking the beginning of his remarkable journey as one of the most successful investors in the history of the United States.

In 1973, George Soros establishes his own hedge fund, the Quantum Fund, which would go on to achieve significant success in the financial world.

In 1977, George Soros is charged with stock manipulation, leading to legal proceedings and a settlement with the Fletcher Jones Foundation.

George Soros founded the Open Society Foundations in 1979, which is known as the world's largest private funder of independent groups advocating for justice, democratic governance, and human rights.

By 1981, the Quantum Fund had grown to $400 million, but experienced a 22% loss that year leading to a reduction in value to $200 million.

George Soros was married to Susan Weber from June 19, 1983, until 2005 when they got divorced.

On May 28, 1984, business magnate George Soros signed a contract between the Soros Foundation (New York City) and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, establishing the Soros Foundation Budapest.

George Soros opens a foundation in Hungary, which later leads to the establishment of the Open Society Foundations network. The foundation aims to expand people’s access to information in Eastern Europe and Russia by distributing photocopiers to independent groups.

In 1989, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, George Soros established the Central European University to promote critical thinking in the former Communist bloc.

The Library of Congress Soros Foundation Visiting Fellows Program was established in 1990.

On September 16, 1992, George Soros famously earned $1 billion in a single day by short selling the British pound. This event occurred during a time when England was part of the European exchange rate mechanism and was under pressure to devalue its currency.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, George Soros established the International Science Foundation to offer $200 million in emergency aid to the struggling scientific institutions. The foundation provided grants to over 30,000 scientists and supported long-term research projects.

In February 1996, George Soros was believed to have traded billions of Finnish markkas, anticipating a short sell. This action was taken during the early 1990s depression.

George Soros also made a significant impact on the Asian financial crisis by speculating against the Thai baht, earning him the title 'the man who broke the Bank of Thailand.'

Bill Maynes, head of the Eurasia fund, nominated George Soros for membership to America's Council on Foreign Relations. Initially, many members doubted Soros's knowledge of international relations due to his wealth, but he was eventually accepted after some time.

Vladimir Meciar, accused of authoritarian leadership, used the press to defame Soros with anti-Semitic slurs in Slovakia. Meciar was later arrested and charged with abuse of power and fraud.

In an interview with The Washington Post, George Soros expressed his strong desire to remove President George W. Bush from office, calling it the 'central focus of my life' and 'a matter of life and death'. He pledged to sacrifice his entire fortune to defeat Bush.

George Soros dedicated significant financial support to various groups like the Center for American Progress, MoveOn.org, and America Coming Together, which aimed to support Democrats in the 2004 election. He also kicked off his own multistate tour with a speech against the re-election of President Bush.

On June 14, 2006, the French Supreme Court confirmed George Soros's conviction related to the Société Générale case, although the penalty was reduced. Soros maintained his innocence.

In 2010, George Soros contributed $100 million to the nongovernmental organization Human Rights Watch. This substantial donation aimed to support human rights advocacy and initiatives globally.

George Soros, through his foundations and Open Society Institutes, financially supports organizations in the former Soviet world with around $500 million annually. He played a significant role in bringing down the communist government in Poland, toppling Serbia's Slobodan Milosevic, and fueling the 'Rose Revolution' in Georgia. Additionally, Soros funded opposition parties in countries like Azerbaijan, Belarus, Croatia, Georgia, and Macedonia, aiding them in gaining power or prominence.

In September 2012, George Soros announced a $1 million donation to the super PAC backing President Barack Obama's reelection campaign, Priorities USA Action.

George Soros married Tamiko Bolton on September 21, 2013 and they are still together.

In July 2015, George Soros criticized Vladimir Putin's annexation of Crimea, stating that it posed a challenge to the prevailing world order, particularly the European Union. Soros hypothesized that Putin's actions were aimed at destabilizing all of Ukraine without taking direct responsibility.

On October 17, 2017, The Open Society Foundations confirmed that George Soros had transferred $18 billion to his foundation, which was the majority of his estimated $24.6 billion fortune. This transfer was part of an ongoing process of asset transfer that had been happening for several years.

In response to targeted attacks by the Hungarian government and a crackdown on civil-society organizations, the Open Society Foundations announces the relocation of its Budapest offices to Germany.

On May 16, 2018, Soros's Open Society Foundations announced the relocation of its office from Budapest to Berlin due to what they described as an increasingly repressive environment in Hungary.

A pipe bomb was placed in the mailbox at George Soros's home in Katonah, New York, as part of the October 2018 United States mail bombing attempts. The package was discovered and removed by a caretaker, leading to an FBI investigation.

Cesar Sayoc Jr. was arrested in Aventura, Florida, on suspicion of mailing pipe bombs to various prominent figures, including George Soros, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama. He was later sentenced to 20 years in prison for this act.

On January 24, 2019, Hungarian-born US investor and philanthropist George Soros delivered a speech at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. During his speech, he criticized Chinese President Xi Jinping for overseeing a high-tech surveillance regime, labeling him as 'the most dangerous enemy' of free societies.

On March 21, 2019, Cesar Sayoc pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court for sending mail bombs to George Soros and other individuals.

On January 23, 2020, George Soros announced a contribution of $1 billion for the new Open Society University Network (OSUN), aiming to provide university courses, programs, and research to neglected student populations worldwide.

On July 13, 2020, George Soros' foundation announced a significant investment of $220 million in racial justice organizations.

On April 1, 2021, Bard College in New York announced that George Soros had pledged $500 million to the college's endowment.

On July 19, 2021, a consortium led by Soros and Bill Gates established Global Access Health (GAH) aiming to offer medical technology to underprivileged regions. The group also revealed the purchase of Mologic, a British firm specializing in COVID-19 diagnostic tests.

George Soros' top 15 holdings include companies like Freshworks Inc., LPL Financial Holdings Inc., indie Semiconductor, Inc., D.R. Horton, Inc., Amazon.com, Inc., Signify Health, Inc., Salesforce, Inc., Liberty Broadband Corporation, Bowlero Corp., and Altra Industrial Motion Corp.

On June 30, 2023, Soros' Open Society Foundations announced a significant layoff of at least 40% of its staff. The job cuts were disclosed in a statement signed by Alexander Soros, the son of George Soros, and the foundation's president, Mark Malloch-Brown.