George Soros Biography & Net Worth

George Soros Biography & Net Worth

George Soros is a Hungarian-American businessman who founded the notable Soros Fund Management Ltd. Company. He is also one of the most active philanthropists of the 21^st century. Born in Hungary as the son of a lawyer, he immigrated to England as a teenager and changed his name from Gyorgy Schwartz to George Soros. He had witnessed how the Nazis occupied his motherland and how his Jewish family lived with fear during the Battle of Budapest. His experiences as a child shaped his views of things concerning politics, and he grew up to be an advocate of capitalism.

George Soros attended the London School of Economics and found his way to New York when he had completed his studies. In New York, he started working in the finance industry, but this didn’t give him the satisfaction he needed as he was working for others. Eventually, he came up with his own firm Soros Fund Management which as of today, is regarded as one of the most successful hedge fund companies in the world. George started becoming active in charitable ventures in 1992 following his establishment of the Open Society Foundation, aimed at promoting political causes, social and economic reforms. Till today, it is reported that he has donated more than $8 billion for philanthropic causes related to public health, human rights, and education.

Early Life: Childhood & Education

He was born Gyorgy Schwartz to Tivadar and Elizabeth Schwartz in Budapest, Hungary. His father was an escaped prisoner of war. He was 13 years old when Nazi Germany occupied Hungary. Likewise, he survived the 1945 Battle of Budapest.

George moved to England in 1947 to live with his uncle. He enrolled in the London School of Economics and later graduated in 1952.

Professional Life: Business Career

Four years after completing his graduation, George Soros moved to New York City and secured a job with F.M. Mayer as an arbitrage trader. He maintained his job until 1959 when he joined Wertheim & Co. as a financial analyst. In 1963, he joined Arnhold and S Bleichroeder as the company’s vice chairman. However, he did not find satisfaction on the job and resigned from it in 1973 to start his own company, the Quantum Group of Funds, which he started in partnership with Jim Rogers as a privately owned hedge fund.

During the currency crisis in England on 16 September 1992, George Soros netted a profit of $1 billion by short-selling Sterling.

Philanthropic Endeavors

He started paying attention to philanthropic causes in the 1970s when he began building a network of charity foundations mostly based in countries in Africa, Europe, and the Soviet Union which focused on the promotion of education, democratization, and public health. He established the Soros Foundations, which, as of today, operates in more than 60 countries around the world. In 1984, he erected the original Open Society Institute in Hungary with a budget of $3 million. Later on, in 1993, he established the Open Society Foundations (OSF), based in New York City, New York, United States. These foundations support initiatives in diverse areas, including education, independent media, and rule of law among several others.

A devoted supporter of liberal and progressive political views, George Soros donated heavily to several political causes in the United States to support the Democratic Party in the 2004 election. He gifted $20 million to America Coming Together and $3 million to the Center for American Progress. His support for the economist Jeffrey Sachs’ endeavor was unmatched. He also supported the Millennium Promise to afford medical and educational aid to poverty-stricken communities in Africa, donating $50 million to the scheme in 2006. Further down the line of his humanitarian activities, George helped establish the New York City-based nonprofit think tank Institute for New Economic Thinking in the year 2009 with a funding of $50 million. In 2010, he made a memorable $1 million to the Drug Policy Alliance campaign to support the legalization of marijuana in the state of California.

Books

Mr. Soros has authored or co-authored numerous books, mostly centered on financial and political issues. His major works are;

• Open Society: Reforming Global Capitalism – 2001
• The Age of Fallibility: Consequences of the War on Terror – 2006

Achievements: Awards & Honors

George received the Yale International Center for Finance Award in the year 2000. This award was presented by the Yale School of Management in recognition of his contributions to several notable causes.

Personal Life: Family, Wife, Children

George and Annaliese Witschak were married from 1960 until 1983 when they divorced. They had three children.

He got married for the second time to Susan Weber. Like his first try, this marriage also ended in divorce after the birth of their two children.

Online sources confirm that the American businessman is currently engaged to his girlfriend Tamiko Bolton. There’s no news regarding any planned wedding yet, however, social media postings suggest that a date may be just around the corner.

George Soros Net Worth: Salary, Income Sources, Real Estate

George Soros Biography & Net Worth

The Hungarian-American businessman, George Soros, made his wealth from multiple avenues. Asides from being renowned for philanthropy and social activism, he found significant success in all the roles he has played in life so far, including as a stock investor and currency speculator. The bulk of his fortune has come from Soros Fund Management, the hedge fund he started in 1970 which eventually went on to generate a profit of more than $30 billion for investors over the decades.

George Soros’ net worth is $10 billion. As a major philanthropist, he has gifted more than $32 billion in his personal income to a charity. He is a Holocaust survivor, and has funded many cultural initiatives in a bid to promote human rights and progressive ideas throughout most of his impressive career.