George Soros

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George Soros (pronounced /ˈsɔərɵs/,[2] Hungarian: [ˈʃoroʃ]) (born August 12, 1930, as György Schwartz) is an American currency speculator, stock investor, businessman, philanthropist, and political activist.[3] Forbes lists Soros as the 29th-richest person in the world, with a net worth estimated at $11.0 billion. Soros has given $6 billion to various causes since 1979.[1]

Soros is chairman of Soros Fund Management and the Open Society Institute and is also a former member of the Board of Directors of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is also one of three initial funders of Center for American Progress, and is represented on the board.[4] His funding and organization of Georgia's Rose Revolution was considered by Russian and Western observers to have been crucial to its success, although Soros said his role has been greatly exaggerated. In the United States, he is known for having donated large sums of money in a failed effort to defeat President George W. Bush's bid for re-election in 2004.

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Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker wrote in 2003 in the foreword of Soros' book The Alchemy of Finance: George Soros has made his mark as an enormously successful speculator, wise enough to largely withdraw when still way ahead of the game. The bulk of his enormous winnings is now devoted to encouraging transitional and emerging nations to become 'open societies,' open not only in the sense of freedom of commerce but—more important—tolerant of new ideas and different modes of thinking and behavior.

Biography

Family

George Soros was born in Budapest, Hungary, the son of the Esperantist writer Tivadar Soros. Tivadar (also known as Teodoro) was a Hungarian Jew, who was a prisoner of war during and after World War I and eventually escaped from Russia to rejoin his family in Budapest.[5][6] The family changed its name in 1936 from Schwartz to Soros, in response to growing anti-semitism with the rise of Fascism. Tivadar liked the new name because it is a palindrome and because it has a meaning. Although the specific meaning is left unstated in Kaufmann's biography, in Hungarian, soros means "next in line, or designated successor", and in Esperanto, it means "will soar".[7] His son George was taught to speak Esperanto from birth and thus is one of the rare native Esperanto speakers. George Soros later said that he grew up in a Jewish home, and that his parents were cautious with their religious roots.[8] George Soros has been married and divorced twice, to Annaliese Witschak, and to Susan Weber Soros. He has five children: Robert, Andrea, Jonathan (with his first wife, Annaliese); Alexander, Gregory (with his second wife, Susan). His elder brother, Paul Soros, a private investor and philanthropist, is a retired engineer, who headed Soros Associates, an international engineering firm based in New York, and established the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for Young Americans.[9][10] George Soros' nephew Peter Soros, a son of Paul Soros, is married to the former Flora Fraser, a daughter of Lady Antonia Fraser and the late Sir Hugh Fraser, and a stepdaughter of the late 2005 Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter.[11]

Philanthropy

Soros has been active as a philanthropist since the 1970s, when he began providing funds to help black students attend the University of Cape Town in apartheid South Africa, and began funding dissident movements behind the iron curtain.

Soros' philanthropic funding includes efforts to promote non-violent democratization in the post-Soviet states. These efforts, mostly in Central and Eastern Europe, occur primarily through the Open Society Institute (OSI) and national Soros Foundations, which sometimes go under other names (such as the Stefan Batory Foundation in Poland). As of 2003, PBS estimated that he had given away a total of $4 billion.[21] The OSI says it has spent about $400 million annually in recent years.

Time magazine in 2007 cited two specific projects - $100 million toward Internet infrastructure for regional Russian universities; and $50 million for the Millennium Promise to eradicate extreme poverty in Africa - while noting that Soros has given $742 million to projects in the U.S., and given away a total of more than $6 billion.[26]

Other notable projects have included aid to scientists and universities throughout Central and Eastern Europe, help to civilians during the siege of Sarajevo, and Transparency International. Soros also pledged an endowment of €420 million to the Central European University (CEU). The Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus and his microfinance bank Grameen Bank received support from the OSI. According to National Review[27] the Open Society Institute gave $20,000 in September 2002 to the Defense Committee of Lynne Stewart, the lawyer who has defended alleged terrorists in court and was sentenced to 2⅓ years in prison for "providing material support for a terrorist conspiracy" via a press conference for a client. An OSI spokeswoman said "it appeared to us at that time that there was a right-to-counsel issue worthy of our support."

In September 2006, Soros departed from his characteristic sponsorship of democracy building programs, pledging $50 million to the Jeffrey Sachs-led Millennium Promise to help eradicate extreme poverty in Africa. Noting the connection between bad governance and poverty, he remarked on the humanitarian value of the project.[28]

Education and beliefs

Soros has a keen interest in philosophy, and has stated that he entered finance to be able to support himself as a philosopher. His philosophical outlook is influenced by Karl Popper, under whom he studied at the London School of Economics (LSE). His Open Society Institute is named after Popper's two volume work, The Open Society and Its Enemies, and Soros's ongoing philosophical commitment to the principle of fallibilism (that anything he believes may in fact be wrong, and is therefore to be questioned and improved) stems from Popper's philosophy. In an interview with 60 Minutes, Soros identified himself as an irreligious atheist.[47] Books

Authored or co-authored

The New Paradigm for Financial Markets: The Credit Crisis of 2008 and What it Means. The Age of Fallibility: Consequences of the War on Terror (PublicAffairs, 2006) ISBN 1-58648-359-1 With MoveOn.org, MoveOn's 50 Ways to Love Your Country: How to Find Your Political Voice and Become a Catalyst for Change Inner Ocean Publishing, 2004 ISBN 1-930722-29-X The Bubble of American Supremacy: Correcting the Misuse of American Power (PublicAffairs, 2003) ISBN 1-58643-217-3 (paperback; PublicAffairs, 2004; ISBN 1-58648-292-0) George Soros on Globalization (PublicAffairs, 2002) ISBN 1-58648-125-8 (paperback; PublicAffairs, 2005; ISBN 1-52648-278-5) Open Society: Reforming Global Capitalism (PublicAffairs, 2001) ISBN 1-58648-039-7 With Mark Amadeus Notturno, Science and the Open Society: The Future of Karl Popper's Philosophy (Central European University Press, 2000) ISBN 963-9116-69-6 (paperback: Central European University Press, 2000; ISBN 943-9116-70-X) The Crisis of Global Capitalism: Open Society Endangered (PublicAffairs, 1998) ISBN 1-891220-27-4 Soros on Soros: Staying Ahead of the Curve (John Wiley, 1995) ISBN 0-471-12014-6 (paperback; Wiley, 1995; ISBN 0-371-11977-6) Underwriting Democracy: Encouraging Free Enterprise and Democratic Reform Among the Soviets and in Eastern Europe (Free Press, 1991) ISBN 0-02-930285-4 (paperback; PublicAffairs, 2004; ISBN 1-58948-227-0) Opening the Soviet System (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1990) ISBN 0-297-82155-9 (paperback: Perseus Books, 1996; ISBN 0-8133-1205-1) The Alchemy of Finance (Simon & Schuster, 1988) ISBN 0-671-66338-4 (paperback: Wiley, 2003; ISBN 0-471-44549-5) [edit]Biographies Soros: The Life and Times of a Messianic Billionaire by Michael T. Kaufman (Alfred A. Knopf, 2002) ISBN 0-375-40585-2 Soros: The World's Most Influential Investor by Robert Slater (McGraw-Hill Professional, 2009) ISBN 978-0-07-160844-2 [edit]Journalism

[edit]Authored

  • George Soros, "On Israel, America and AIPAC", The New York Review of Books, April 12, 2007.
  • George Soros, "The Bubble of American Supremacy", The Korea Herald, March 12, 2003.
  • George Soros, "The Bubble of American Supremacy", The Atlantic, December 2003.
  • George Soros, The Bubble of American Supremacy, audio recording of The Atlantic article via Assistive Media, read by Grover Gardner, 18 minutes.
  • George Soros, "Soros on Brazil", Financial Times, August 13, 2002.*George Soros, "Bitter Thoughts with Faith in Russia", Moskovskiye Novosti (Moscow News), translated from the Russian by Olga Kryazheva, February 27, 2000.
  • George Soros, "The Capitalist Threat", The Atlantic Monthly, February 1997.
  • George Soros, "Paulson Cannot be Allowed a Blank Cheque", Financial Times, September 24, 2008

References: References

  1. The World's Billionaires -#29 George Soros, Forbes, March 5, 2008
  2. Authors@Google: George Soros
  3. William Shawcross, "Turning Dollars into Change," Time Magazine, September 1, 1997
  4. George Soros, A Biographical Note, dated May 2006.
  5. Kaufman, Michael T., Soros: The Life and Times of a Messianic Billionaire, Alfred A. Knopf: 2002
  6. Soros, George (2008). The New Paradigm for Financial Markets: The Credit Crisis of 2008 and What It Means. PublicAffairs. p. 13. ISBN 1586486837.
  7. Kaufman, Michael T., Soros: The Life and Times of a Messianic Billionaire, Alfred A. Knopf: 2002, p. 24.
  8. Slater, R.: Soros: The Unauthorized Biography, page 30.
  9. "Background and History" (Web). Paul and Dora Soros Fellowships for Young Americans. Retrieved 2009-03-22.
  10. Elisabeth Bumiller (1998-06-17). "Public Lives: An Overshadowed Altruist Sees the Light" (Web). New York Times (New York Times Company). Retrieved 2009-03-22.
  11. "Peter Soros and Flora Fraser" (Web). New York Times (New York Times Company). 1997-02-02. Retrieved 2009-03-22.
  12. Holocaust Encyclopedia
  13. Michael Lewis, "The Speculator: What on earth is multibillionaire George Soros doing throwing wads of money around in Eastern Europe?", The New Republic, 10 January 1994. See also Kaufman, Michael T., Soros: The Life and Times of a Messianic Billionaire, Alfred A. Knopf: 2002, p. 32-33
  14. O'Brien, Timothy L (1998-12-06). "He's Seen The Enemy. It Looks Like Him.". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-07-28.Soros, George (2008). The New Paradigm for Financial Markets. Public Affairs, New York. ISBN 978-1-58648-683-9.
  15. Anderson, Jenny (2008-04-16). "Wall Street Winners Get Billion-Dollar Paydays". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-07-28.
  16. Steven Drobny, "Inside the House of Money", John Wiley & Sons: Hoboken, NJ, 2006.
  17. Soros on Soros: Staying Ahead of the Curve (John Wiley, 1995) ISBN 0-471-12014-6 (paperback; Wiley, 1995; ISBN 0-371-11977-6)
  18. "Soros, the Man Who Cries Wolf, Now Is Warning of a 'Superbubble'" by Greg Ip, B1, June 21-22, 2008 The Wall Street Journal.
  19. Soros sees no bottom for world financial "collapse", Reuters, February 21, 2009, Retrieved on 2009-08-17.
  20. a b David Brancaccio interviews George Soros, Now, PBS, September 12, 2003, accessed Feb. 8, 2007.
  21. Insider trading conviction of Soros is upheld (International Herald Tribune)
  22. Soros appeals conviction for insider trading, Billionaire takes French conviction to European court (International Herald Tribune)December 14, 2006
  23. Soros's Nats Bid Irks Republicans
  24. [1]
  25. TIME 100, The Power Givers, George Soros, TIME Magazine, May 14, 2007 accessed May 21, 2007
  26. York, Byron, Soros Funded Stewart Defense, National Review Online, accessed February 7, 2007
  27. Philanthropist Gives $50 Million to Help Aid the Poor in Africa
  28. Laura Blumenfeld, Deep Pockets vs. Bush, Financier Contributes $5 Million More in Effort to Oust President, Washington Post, November 11, 2003; Page A03
  29. Why We Must Not Re-elect President Bush
  30. Cheney Drops the Ball
  31. "New Alliance Of Democrats Spreads Funding". Retrieved 2006-07-17.
  32. Clark, Neil. "Soros Profile". the New Statesman. Retrieved 2007-06-06.
  33. [2]
  34. [3]
  35. Salomé Zourabichvili, Herodote (magazine of the French Institute for Geopolitics, April, 2008
  36. Fred Weir: Democracy rising in ex-Soviet states, Christian Science Monitor, February 10, 2005
  37. [4]
  38. [5]
  39. Soros donates $100 million to Europe, UNIAN (June 19, 2009)
  40. LeBlanc, Steve, Soros behind Mass. effort to decriminalize pot, Associated Press, August 27, 2008
  41. https://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=4416, National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
  42. Project on Death in America
  43. [6]
  44. [7]
  45. [8]
  46. Steve Kroft: Are you a religious man? Soros: No. Kroft: Do you believe in God? Soros: No. 60 Minutes, broadcast December 20, 1998.
  47. chapter 10 "The Developmental States of East Asia." Hoogvelt, Ankie. 2001. in Globalization and the Postcolonial World: The New Political Economy of Development. Balimore, MD: Johns Hopkins Press.
  48. Maggie Farley: Malaysian Leader, Soros Trade Barbs, Los Angeles Times, September 22, 1997
  49. Bill Moyers Journal, George Soros on the financial crisis, published October 10, 2008, at https://odeo.com, full transcript and podcast
  50. jta.org
  51. Soros, George. "On Israel, America and AIPAC." New York Review of Books, April 12, 2007.
  52. https://www.nybooks.com/articles/21792

External links

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