George Soros

George Soros

Key takeaways
* Legendary hedge fund manager and philanthropist.
* Founded his first hedge fund in the late 1960s and later chaired Soros Fund Management and the Quantum Fund, which produced very strong historical returns.
* Famous for large, leveraged currency bets—most notably shorting the British pound in 1992.
* Founder of the Open Society Foundations; has donated tens of billions to education, human rights, and democracy initiatives.

Early life and education
George Soros was born in Budapest in 1930 to a Jewish family and survived the Nazi occupation of Hungary. He emigrated to England in 1947 and earned a doctorate from the London School of Economics before beginning a career in finance.

Investment career
Soros launched his first hedge fund at the end of the 1960s and later established Soros Fund Management and the Quantum Fund. The Quantum Fund is widely cited for its strong performance—reports attribute it an average annual return of about 30% from 1970 to 2000. Soros became known for taking large, concentrated, highly leveraged positions based on his global macro view of economics and politics.

Notable trades
* Black Wednesday (1992): Soros famously took a massive short position against the British pound during the pound’s membership in the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM). When the pound was forced to float and devalue, his position reportedly earned around $1 billion in a single day and led to the label “the man who broke the Bank of England.”
* Asian financial crisis (1997): Soros also made large bets against several Asian currencies; his positions during the crisis added to his notoriety and earned him similar characterizations in relation to Thailand and other markets.

Investment style
Soros combined deep macroeconomic research with a willingness to act on conviction. He emphasized:
* Global and regional economic analysis to identify imbalances and policy pressures.
* Large, leveraged positions to exploit market inefficiencies.
* A notable role for intuition—Soros described closing positions often as a gut decision informed by extensive experience.
His approach was informed by his theory of reflexivity, which posits that market participants’ biases can shape fundamentals and prices in a feedback loop.

Philanthropy and political activity
Soros founded the Open Society Foundations, a global grantmaking network that funds work on justice, human rights, education, and democratic governance. Over decades he has donated tens of billions of dollars through the foundations. Major examples include a large endowment gift to Bard College and substantial support for civil society efforts in many countries. Soros has also been an outspoken supporter of progressive causes and democratic institutions, which has made him a frequent target of political controversy and conspiracy theories.

Net worth
Soros’s personal wealth has been reduced by extensive giving; his net worth has been reported around $7.2 billion as of September 2024, with charitable contributions exceeding $32 billion over time.

Legacy
George Soros is one of the most influential figures in modern finance and philanthropy. His successful macro trades reshaped perceptions of currency markets and sovereign policy risk, while his philanthropic network has had a lasting impact on civil society and democratic initiatives worldwide. His career illustrates the intersection of high-stakes investing, political engagement, and large-scale philanthropy.