George Soros is a Hungarian-American businessman and philanthropist. According to Forbes, he has a net worth of $6.7 billion. He has been described as the “most generous” person by Forbes due to his billions of dollars in donations to the Open Society Foundations that he established. So, how did George Soros accumulate his wealth? You can find everything you need to know about famous businessman in this article of Zatrun.com.
Who is George Soros?
George Soros was born in 1930 to a Jewish family in Budapest, Hungary. However, his family’s home was identified as an anti-Semitic Jewish household. In 1936, Soros’s family changed their surname from the German-Jewish “Schwartz” to “Soros” as a protective camouflage in increasingly anti-Semitic Hungary.
During the Nazi occupation of Hungary in 1944-45, his family managed to survive by hiding their identities with fake documents. In 1947, Soros left Budapest to go to London where he started attending the London School of Economics. While studying, he worked as a part-time railway porter and waiter to support himself.
After completing his education, Soros began working at Singer & Friedlander, a trading bank in London. However, Soros decided to leave his days in England behind and moved to New York in 1956 to work as a European securities analyst.
In 1973, George Soros founded the Soros Fund, later known as the Quantum Endowment Fund. Known for his bold investment decisions, Soros managed to quickly grow the fund. However, he gained notoriety for his decision to short the British pound against the Bank of England. Predicting that the pound would lose value, Soros sold 10 billion dollars’ worth of the currency short. The Bank of England was forced to print more money due to the size of Soros’s position, and Soros correctly predicted the outcome, earning a billion dollars in a single day. Soros earned the nickname “the man who broke the Bank of England” that day.
Turning Financial Crises into Opportunities
The 1997 Asian financial crisis saw Soros allegedly betting heavily against the Thai baht. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad blamed Soros directly for the decline in the Malaysian ringgit after the Asian crisis. However, Soros did not admit to these allegations.
In 2013, Soros took a position against the Japanese currency yen and earned another billion dollars. Soros was aware that Japan’s Prime Minister at the time, Shinzo Abe, was implementing a comprehensive monetary expansion to revive Japan’s stagnant economy. The easing policy reduced the value of the yen. During Soros’s bet, the yen’s value fell by about 17%, and the Japanese stock market rose about 28% before declining. In the same year, Soros’s investment fund grew to more than $24 billion, and the annual return rate reached 24%.
His Wealth and Impact
It is no secret that Soros’s intuition plays a significant role in his investment decisions. However, his success is not just limited to that. In fact, Soros’s regional and global economic and political analyses are highly respected by investors and experts. Soros has been known to use his wealth to influence political outcomes, as seen in his efforts to promote open societies and democracy through the Open Society Foundations.
George Soros is an extraordinarily successful investor, businessman, and philanthropist, with a net worth of $6.7 billion. He has gained notoriety for his bold investment decisions and has been described as the “most generous” person by Forbes due to his billions of dollars in donations to the Open Society Foundations. Soros has played a significant role in shaping global economic and political policies, and his insights are highly respected by investors and experts alike.
