George Soros

George Soros (born August 12, 1930 in Budapest, Hungary as Soros György) is a Hungarian-born Jewish-American currency speculator and philanthropist. Currently, he is the chairman of Soros Fund Management and the Open Society Institute and is also former member of the Board of Directors of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is known around the world for the role he played in Georgia's Rose Revolution. In the United States he is known for donating large sums of money in an attempt to defeat President George W. Bush's bid for reelection.

Early Life

George Soros is the son of the Esperanto writer Tivadar Soros. Soros was born in Hungary.

Related Topics:
Esperanto - Tivadar Soros

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As a young man, Soros traded foreign currencies in the black market in Hungary during the second world war. Soros was fourteen when the Germans took military control over their ally Hungary in the last part of the war. Some say he avoided the fate of many Jews because he was acting as godson of a Hungarian official working for the Nazis, overseeing the confiscation of Jewish properties. This godfather apparently had a son-in-law in Tivadar Soros who was George's father. Tivadar tells of his ordeal to survive fascist Hungary, and help many people escape it, in his book Maskerado.

Related Topics:
Currencies - Black market - Tivadar Soros

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In 1946 George escaped the Soviet occupation by participating in an Esperanto youth congress in the West. (Soros was taught to speak the language from birth and thus is one of the rare Native Esperanto speakers.)

Related Topics:
1946 - Esperanto - Native Esperanto speakers

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Soros emigrated to England in 1947 and graduated from the London School of Economics in 1952. In 1956 he moved to the United States. He has stated that his intent was to earn enough money on Wall Street to support himself as an author and philosopher. His net worth reached an estimated $11 billion.

Related Topics:
England - 1947 - London School of Economics - 1952 - 1956 - United States - Wall Street - Author - Philosopher - Net worth

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