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George Soros

Founder

Open Society Foundations

POSITION

Founder

COMPANY

Open Society Foundations

COUNTRY

Hungary

AGE

93 years

Website

Open Society Foundations

Est. Net Worth

$8 Billion Forbes

SCENE

Social

SOCIAL

Twitter

What makes George Soros a Global Shaker?

In 2017 George Soros transferred $18 billion to Open Society Foundations – making it the second biggest philanthropic organisations in the United States and bringing his total giving to the foundations since 1984 to over $30 billion. Soros was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1930 and survived Nazi occupation and the Hungarian Communist-rule before emigrating to London where he studied economics.

Upon graduating in 1956 he moved to New York to begin his lives work in the financial sector. He began his philanthropic efforts in 1979 when he founded Open Society Foundations — originally to give scholarships to black South Africans suffering under apartheid.

The foundations seek to strengthen the rule of law; respect for human rights, minorities, and a diversity of opinions; democratically elected governments; and a civil society that helps keep government power in check.

They help to shape public policies that assure greater fairness in political, legal, and economic systems and safeguard fundamental rights.

In the eighties, his foundations significantly contributed to the collapse of communism in Europe and in 2014 funded treatment centres for the 2014 Ebola outbreak.

In 2017 Soros partnered with Master Card to found the social enterprise Humanity Ventures. Its mission is to improve the economic status of migrant and refugee communities worldwide.

Last updated: April 11, 2019