curious about how did George Soros make his money? Well here is all you want to read about him. George Soros is a Hungarian-American investor, business magnate, philanthropist as well as a financial speculator. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Soros made huge profits by following and predicting international currency fluctuations. He popularized the idea of “reflexivity” that market values are often driven by the fallible ideas of participants rather than purely by economic fundamentals.
Soros is considered the 29th richest person in the United States with $25 billion according to Forbes data for 2017. During his career, Soros has donated billions of dollars to various philanthropic causes. He played an important role in the peaceful transition from communism to capitalism in Eastern Europe and provided one of Europe’s largest higher education endowments to the Central European University in his hometown.
Soros has lived in New York City since 1973. He was ranked number 30 on the 2010 Forbes list of the 400 wealthiest Americans, with a net worth of $14.3 billion as of April 16, 2011.
George Soros’s Childhood
Soros was born András Schwartz (and sometimes transliterated as Schátz) on August 12, 1930, in Budapest, Hungary. He survived Nazi persecution and then fled communist-dominated Hungary for England. He worked part-time at a London train station exchanging foreign currency and then attended the London School of Economics where he received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy.
“My success in the financial markets has given me a greater degree of independence than most other people. This allows me to take a stand on controversial issues: In fact it obliges me to do so because others cannot. If I see a threat to the survival of open society, I am required to do something about it.” -George Soros
how did George Soros make his money
Soros earned his wealth with hedge funds starting in 1969 after earning a PhD from the London School of Economics. In 1992 he was credited as being the mastermind behind the Bank of England’s massive devaluation of the British pound on Black Wednesday. He also shorted the French franc and received a large profit from those transactions as well as profiting from other European currencies. In his book, “The Alchemy of Finance”, Soros explains his success in making money from currency speculation.
“I am opposed to the very concept of making money. Making money is what causes you to have to work a lot. I’d like to get rich very quickly so that I can enjoy my life.”
-George Soros
In 2011 Soros was convicted of insider trading by a French court but decided not to appeal the ruling. Soros was well-known for taking positions on controversial issues, sometimes making large financial gains from doing so. In 1992 he shorted the British pound and made a profit of $1 billion during the UK’s European Exchange Rate Mechanism debacle. Soros has donated money to many political causes including anti-war movements, human rights groups, and Democratic candidates.
George Soros as Democratic Supporter
For the 2004 U.S. presidential election, Soros announced that he supported John Kerry against George W. Bush saying, “I do not believe in a victory of the conservative party which represents corporate interests… The Republican Party has been captured by corporate interests. I have decided to side with the Democratic Party.” Soros donated $2 million to American progressive causes and $1.4 million to Democratic campaigns in 2004.
Soros has consistently been an advocate for drug legalization, financially supporting many non-profit organizations such as the Lindesmith Center, Drug Policy Foundation, and the Open Society Institute. He also serves on the board of directors of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) and has been called by Newsweek “one of the most influential lobbying forces in Washington.”
George Soros’s Charity work
Soros has donated to various charitable causes such as educational institutions, healthcare, etc. He has donated over $11 billion to various philanthropic causes. His personal wealth is estimated at $25 billion.
George Soros Personal life
Soros was married for the first time in 1956 to Tividi Hirsch but later divorced. He has four children with Annaliese Witschak (Tamiko Bolton), Robert Daniel Soros (Alexander Soros) – born in 1987, Jonathan Tivadar Soros (b. 1980), Andrea Soros Colombel (b. 1982), and Gregory Paul Soros (b. 1985).
Soros was born in Budapest, to a non-observant Jewish family. His mother Elizabeth (also known as Erzsébet) came from a family that owned a thriving silk shop. His father Tivadar (also known as Teodoro) was a lawyer and had been a prisoner of war during and after World War I until he escaped from Russia and rejoined his family in Budapest. Tivadar was an Esperantist writer and taught Soros to speak Esperanto in his childhood. In 1936, their family converted from Judaism to Unitarianism.
George Soros Career and Education
In 1947, Soros emigrated from Hungary to England due to the persecution of Jews by the Nazis and their collaborators. He settled in London, where he began his university studies at the London School of Economics. In 1951 Soros emigrated to the United States, settling in New York City.
In 1956 Soros began working as a financial analyst at Wall Street firm Wertheim & Co., where he specialized in European stocks. In 1959 he moved to Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder Inc., becoming the assistant of Amos Tversky, a well-known economist who was chairman of that firm. The two men developed an intellectual friendship; they had similar ideas about philosophy and politics and would have long discussions on their work.
In 1960, Soros earned a Bachelor of Science in philosophy and a Master of Science in economics from the London School of Economics. He moved to New York City, where he began working as an arbitrage trader for F. M. Mayer (1962-1964) and as an analyst for Wertheim & Co. (1960-1963).
How George Soros started his career.
George Soros seems to have been very successful in his life. He is estimated to have a net worth of 25 billion dollars. From being a waiter and railway porter, he rose to the level of one of the richest people in the world within a span of 40 years. Soros entered into stock market trading in 1964 after graduating from LSE. In 1969 he started working for investment bank Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder Inc as an analyst. In 1973, he set up his own hedge fund; the Quantum Fund, along with Jim Rogers and Stan Druckenmiller.
During the 1970s Soros became increasingly interested in international investments as a result of the falling dollar and because of theories like those of dutch businessman Dennis Gabor who was also a fellow student of LSE who had similar interests. In 1979, Georges Soros became the lead portfolio manager for the Quantum Fund and in 1980 became its co-chairman. During this time he oversaw the fund’s growth to $381 million, representing $40 million in assets under management and profiting $175 million for investors.
It is always said hard and smart work can get you somewhere in life. This is how George Soros gets there; one of the billionaires of the 21st century. This article gives you all the insight into how George Soros makes his money.
