George Soros, an American businessman and philanthropist with Jewish-Hungarian roots, has passed the reins of his $25 billion financial and charitable empire to his son Alex. Soros, 92, told the Wall Street Journal in an interview that Alex was “qualified” to take over the administration of the estate.
Since the 1990s, the fortune of the Soros family has been used to support democracy in many countries around the world, the BBC writes on Monday, confirming the information of the American newspaper from the billionaire’s spokesperson.
George Soros is one of the largest donors to the US Democratic Party.
Father and son share similar political views
A historian by training, Alex is the second youngest of George Soros’ five children. He is the only family member to be on the investment board of Soros Fund Management. Although father and son share similar political views, Alex told the WSJ that he is “more political” than his father and that he will be involved in a political campaign to stop Donald Trump from running for president in 2024. “As much as I want to take money out of politics, as long as the other side does it, so will we,” said Alex Soros. Alex pointed out that the Open Society Foundation (OSF), founded by his father, will continue the same goals as before, namely free speech, criminal justice reform, minority and refugee rights, and support for liberal politicians.
Under Alex’s leadership, it will also support initiatives on gender equality, voting rights and abortion, while pursuing an agenda focused more on America than the rest of the world.
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The story of George Soros
George Soros was born in Hungary in 1930. During World War II, his family had to hide their Jewish origins. After the war, he left Hungary for London and then New York, where he made billions through his investment fund business.
After 1989, he founded the OSF to support the democratization process in the countries of the former Soviet bloc. The foundation currently spends about $1.5 billion a year to support liberal initiatives, educational institutions and human rights in more than 120 countries. OSF moved its international operations office from Budapest to Berlin in 2018 when the Hungarian government led by Viktor Orbán campaigned against the work of the Soros Foundation. The BBC notes that some of his actions have drawn criticism from the right.
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