George Soros is a Hungarian-American investor, philanthropist, and political activist with a net worth of $9 billion USD. He is known for his theory of reflexivity in markets and for breaking the Bank of England in 1992. Soros has donated over $6 billion USD to philanthropic projects, including the Open Society Institute, and has been politically active, donating millions to groups seeking to defeat George W. Bush in 2004.
George Soros is an American investor, born in Hungary in 1930. He is one of the hundred richest people in the world, with a net worth of approximately $9 billion United States Dollars (USD). In addition to his investments, George Soros is also known for his political activism and philanthropy, and his advocacy of democracy abroad.
George Soros lived in Hungary during his early life, leaving it during the Soviet occupation in the wake of Nazi control of Hungary. He moved to England in 1947 and five years later graduated from the London School of Economics. He went on to work at Singer & Friedlander Bank in London.
George Soros eventually moved to America in the mid-1950s, working in New York with FM Meyer and Wertheim & Company. During this period he continued to refine his theories of economics, especially his theory of reflexivity in markets, which essentially stated that the very act of valuing a market influences valuation in a vicious or virtuous circle. In the 1960s he worked at Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder, rising to vice president. In the late 1960s he began investing in a fund set up for him by the firm, and was also managing another fund by the late 1960s.
In 1973 he went his own way, starting his own investment company, which would become Quantum Fund. His initial goal was to earn $500,000 USD within five years, allowing him to settle into a life of philosophy and writing. Over that five year period, instead of $500,000 USD he ended up worth over $11 billion USD.
George Soros is perhaps best known for his activities in the foreign exchange markets. He is famous for being the man who “broke” the Bank of England. On Black Wednesday 1992, the Bank of England had failed to float its currency or raise interest rates. One of Soros’ partners, Stanley Druckenmiller, saw the weak position he put the pound into. George Soros then capitalized on this by shorting a huge amount of pounds, in excess of $10 billion dollars. When the Bank of England finally devalued the pound in response, George Soros made over $1.1 billion dollars.
Since the 1970s, George Soros has been involved in a number of philanthropic projects around the world. The best known of him is probably the Open Society Institute, which promotes nonviolent democratization around the world. His donations tend to attract attention for being very large and it is estimated that he has given away more than $6 billion dollars to date. Some highlights include a pledge of more than $50 million dollars to Jeffrey Sachs’ initiative to end the worst of poverty in Africa, the Millennium Pledge, and $100 million dollars for Internet infrastructure in Russia. George Soros is also known for his political activism in recent years. In 2004, he came out adamantly against the re-election of President George W. Bush, donating more than $23 million to various groups seeking to defeat Bush.
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