George Soros (born August 12, 1930, in Budapest, Hungary, as György Schwartz) is a Hungarian-born American financial speculator, stock investor, philanthropist, and political activist.[3]Currently, he is the 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. According to his own website, Soros claims his support for the Solidarity labour movement in Poland, as well as the Czechoslovak human rights organization Charter 77, contributed to ending Soviet Union political dominance in those countries.[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. On BookTV, November 12, 2007, he said that he supports Barack Obama for the Democratic candidate in the 2008 election, but says that John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, or Joe Biden are all fine candidates, as well.
Soros is famously known for "breaking the Bank of England" on Black Wednesday in 1992. With an estimated current net worth of around $8.5 billion, he is ranked by Forbes as the 80th-richest person in the world.
George Soros is the son of the Esperanto writer Teodoro Schwartz. Teodoro (also known as Tivadar) 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]
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. Though 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".[6] 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, anti-semitic home," and that his parents were "uncomfortable with their religious roots."[7]
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 and Gregory (with his second wife, Susan). His elder brother Paul Soros is an engineer, and is also a well-known philanthropist, investor, and New York socialite.
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. Though 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".[6] 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, anti-semitic home," and that his parents were "uncomfortable with their religious roots."[7]
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 and Gregory (with his second wife, Susan). His elder brother Paul Soros is an engineer, and is also a well-known philanthropist, investor, and New York socialite.
Soros is the founder of Soros Fund Management. In 1970 he co-founded the Quantum Fund with Jim Rogers. It returned 3,365% during the next ten years (42.6% per year for 10 years), and created the bulk of the Soros fortune. Rogers "retired" from the fund in 1980.
On Black Wednesday (September 16, 1992), Soros became immediately famous when he sold short more than $10 billion worth of pounds, profiting from the Bank of England's reluctance to either raise its interest rates to levels comparable to those of other European Exchange Rate Mechanism countries or to float its currency.
Finally, the Bank of England was forced to withdraw the currency out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism and to devalue the pound sterling, and Soros earned an estimated US$ 1.1 billion in the process. He was dubbed "the man who broke the Bank of England."
The Times October 26, 1992, Monday quoted Soros as saying: "Our total position by Black Wednesday had to be worth almost $10 billion. We planned to sell more than that. In fact, when Norman Lamont said just before the devaluation that he would borrow nearly $15 billion to defend sterling, we were amused because that was about how much we wanted to sell."
According to Steven Drobny,[10] Stanley Druckenmiller, who traded under Soros, originally saw the weakness in the pound. "Soros' contribution was pushing him to take a gigantic position," in accord with Druckenmiller's own research and instincts.
In 1997, during the Asian financial crisis, then Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad accused Soros of using the wealth under his control to punish ASEAN for welcoming Myanmar as a member. Later, he called Soros a moron.[11] Thai nationals have called Soros "an economic war criminal" who "sucks the blood from the people".
Finally, the Bank of England was forced to withdraw the currency out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism and to devalue the pound sterling, and Soros earned an estimated US$ 1.1 billion in the process. He was dubbed "the man who broke the Bank of England."
The Times October 26, 1992, Monday quoted Soros as saying: "Our total position by Black Wednesday had to be worth almost $10 billion. We planned to sell more than that. In fact, when Norman Lamont said just before the devaluation that he would borrow nearly $15 billion to defend sterling, we were amused because that was about how much we wanted to sell."
According to Steven Drobny,[10] Stanley Druckenmiller, who traded under Soros, originally saw the weakness in the pound. "Soros' contribution was pushing him to take a gigantic position," in accord with Druckenmiller's own research and instincts.
In 1997, during the Asian financial crisis, then Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad accused Soros of using the wealth under his control to punish ASEAN for welcoming Myanmar as a member. Later, he called Soros a moron.[11] Thai nationals have called Soros "an economic war criminal" who "sucks the blood from the people".
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 in Central and Eastern Europe mostly occurs through the Open Society Institute (OSI) and national Soros Foundations, which sometimes go under other names, e.g., the Stefan Batory Foundation in Poland. As of 2003, PBS[17] estimated that he had given away a total of $4 billion.
He has promoted non-violent efforts to increase democracy in many countries.
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.[18]
Other notable projects have included aid to scientists and universities throughout Central and Eastern Europe, help to civilians during the siege of Sarajevo, worldwide efforts to repeal drug prohibition laws, 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 the National Review[19] 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.[20]
He received honorary doctoral degrees from the New School for Social Research (New York), the University of Oxford in 1980, the Budapest University of Economics, and Yale University in 1991. Soros also received the Yale International Center for Finance Award from the Yale School of Management in 2000 as well as the Laurea Honoris Causa, the highest honor of the University of Bologna in 1995.
Soros' philanthropic funding in Central and Eastern Europe mostly occurs through the Open Society Institute (OSI) and national Soros Foundations, which sometimes go under other names, e.g., the Stefan Batory Foundation in Poland. As of 2003, PBS[17] estimated that he had given away a total of $4 billion.
He has promoted non-violent efforts to increase democracy in many countries.
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.[18]
Other notable projects have included aid to scientists and universities throughout Central and Eastern Europe, help to civilians during the siege of Sarajevo, worldwide efforts to repeal drug prohibition laws, 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 the National Review[19] 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.[20]
He received honorary doctoral degrees from the New School for Social Research (New York), the University of Oxford in 1980, the Budapest University of Economics, and Yale University in 1991. Soros also received the Yale International Center for Finance Award from the Yale School of Management in 2000 as well as the Laurea Honoris Causa, the highest honor of the University of Bologna in 1995.
Soros György (született Schwartz György; Budapest, 1930. augusztus 2. – ) magyar származású amerikai pénzügyi spekuláns és befektető. Filantróp tevékenységéről is ismert. Magyar zsidó családban született, Schwartz Tivadar (Soros Tivadar) író, újságíró, eszperantista fiaként. 1944-ben a 13 éves fiút egy minisztériumi tisztviselő rejtegette Budapesten, így sikerült túlélnie a holokausztot. 1947-ben kivándorolt az Egyesült Királyságba. 1952-ben diplomázott a London School of Economicson. 1947–1956 között Nagy-Britanniában élt. 1956-ban költözött az Egyesült Államokba.
1962-1965 között filozófiával foglalkozott. Egy évtizeden keresztül egy tőzsdei cégnél alkuszként és értékpapír-elemzőként dolgozott. 1969-ben megalapította a Quantum Befektetési Alapot, 1983-ban pedig a Soros Alapítványt, amit a következő évben Magyarországra is kiterjesztett. 1994-ben elindította a Global Power Investmentset. 1989-ben a Magyar Kulturális Kamara tiszteletbeli elnökének választották.
A Soros Fund Management befektetési alapkezelő társaság és a Nyitott Társadalom Intézet elnöke. A lengyel Szolidaritás és a csehszlovák Charta 77 mozgalomnak nyújtott segítsége hozzájárult a Szovjetunió befolyásának gyengüléséhez, végül megszűnéséhez. Orosz és nyugati elemzők szerint a 2003-as grúz rózsás forradalom sikere az ő finanszírozása és szervezése nélkül aligha lett volna elképzelhető, bár szerinte ezek a vélemények messzemenőkig túlzóak. Az Egyesült Államok belpolitikájának alakításában is tevékenyen részt vett a 2004-es elnökválasztás során, a George W. Bush megbuktatására tett erőfeszítések nagyösszegű támogatásával.
1962-1965 között filozófiával foglalkozott. Egy évtizeden keresztül egy tőzsdei cégnél alkuszként és értékpapír-elemzőként dolgozott. 1969-ben megalapította a Quantum Befektetési Alapot, 1983-ban pedig a Soros Alapítványt, amit a következő évben Magyarországra is kiterjesztett. 1994-ben elindította a Global Power Investmentset. 1989-ben a Magyar Kulturális Kamara tiszteletbeli elnökének választották.
A Soros Fund Management befektetési alapkezelő társaság és a Nyitott Társadalom Intézet elnöke. A lengyel Szolidaritás és a csehszlovák Charta 77 mozgalomnak nyújtott segítsége hozzájárult a Szovjetunió befolyásának gyengüléséhez, végül megszűnéséhez. Orosz és nyugati elemzők szerint a 2003-as grúz rózsás forradalom sikere az ő finanszírozása és szervezése nélkül aligha lett volna elképzelhető, bár szerinte ezek a vélemények messzemenőkig túlzóak. Az Egyesült Államok belpolitikájának alakításában is tevékenyen részt vett a 2004-es elnökválasztás során, a George W. Bush megbuktatására tett erőfeszítések nagyösszegű támogatásával.
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