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{{Redirect|Soros}}
{{Infobox person
| name = George Soros
| image = George Soros - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos 2010.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = George Soros at the [[World Economic Forum]] Annual Meeting 2010
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|mf=yes|1930|08|12}}
| birth_place = [[Budapest]], [[Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946)|Kingdom of Hungary]]
| death_date =
| death_place =
| alma_mater = [[London School of Economics]]
| occupation = Entrepreneur, currency trader, investor, [[philosopher]], philanthropist, [[political activist]]
| salary =
| networth = {{Gain}} $14.2&nbsp;billion (''[[Forbes]]'')<ref name="Forbes 400">[http://www.forbes.com/profile/george-soros Forbes The Richest People In America], [[Forbes]], September 22, 2010</ref>
| spouse = Twice divorced (Annaliese Witschak and Susan Weber Soros)
| children = Robert, Andrea, Jonathan, Alexander, Gregory
| religion = None ([[Atheism|Atheist]])
| website = [http://www.georgesoros.com www.georgesoros.com]
| footnotes =
}}
'''George Soros''' ({{lang-hu|'''Soros György'''}}; {{pron-en|ˈsɔroʊs}} or {{IPA-en|ˈsɔrəs|}},<ref>[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6150320548187842685 Authors@Google: George Soros<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> {{IPA-hu|ˈʃoroʃ|lang}}; born August 12, 1930, as <!-- leave as Schwartz György -->'''Schwartz György'''<!-- leave as Schwartz György, that's how Hungarians write their names -->) is a [[Hungarian-American]] [[financier]], businessman and notable philanthropist focused on supporting [[Liberalism in the United States|liberal]] ideals and causes.<ref>William Shawcross, [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,986919-1,00.html "Turning Dollars into Change,"] Time Magazine, September 1, 1997</ref> He became known as "the Man Who Broke the Bank of England" after he made a reported $1&nbsp;billion during the 1992 [[Black Wednesday|Black Wednesday UK currency crises]].<ref>[http://www.open2.net/openfinance/black_wednesday.html Open University]</ref><ref name = Atlantic/> Soros correctly anticipated that the British government would have to devalue the [[pound sterling]].<ref>[http://www.georgesoros.com/faqs/archive/category/finance/ George Soros FAQ] from GeorgeSoros.com</ref>

Soros is Chairman of the [[Soros Fund Management]] and the [[Open Society Institute]] and a former member of the Board of Directors of the [[Council on Foreign Relations]]. He played a significant role in the peaceful transition from communism to capitalism in [[Hungary]] (1984–89)<ref name = Atlantic>[http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/199307/george-soros/2 The Atlantic]</ref> and provided Europe's largest-ever higher education endowment to [[Central European University]] in [[Budapest]].<ref>http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-79165556.html</ref> Later, the Open Society Institute's programs in [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] were considered by Russian and Western observers to have been crucial in the success of the [[Rose Revolution]]. In the United States, he is known for donating large sums of money in an effort to defeat President [[George W. Bush]]'s bid for re-election in 2004. In 2010, he donated $1&nbsp;million in support of Proposition 19, which would have legalized marijuana in the state of California. He was an initial donor to the [[Center for American Progress]], and he continues to support the organization through the [[Open Society Foundations]]. The Open Society Institute has active programs in more than 60 countries around the world with total expenditures currently averaging approximately $600&nbsp;million a year<ref>[http://www.georgesoros.com/faqs/entry/georgesorosphilanthropyisunprecedented/ Active Programs]</ref>.

In 2003, former [[Federal Reserve]] Chairman [[Paul Volcker]] wrote in the foreword of Soros' book ''The Alchemy of Finance'':
<blockquote>George Soros has made his mark as an enormously successful speculator, wise enough to largely withdraw when still way ahead of the game. The bulk of his enormous winnings is now devoted to encouraging transitional and emerging nations to become 'open societies,' open not only in the sense of freedom of commerce but—more important—tolerant of new ideas and different modes of thinking and behavior.</blockquote>

{{TOC limit|3}}

==Family==
Soros was born in [[Budapest]], [[Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946)|Kingdom of Hungary]], the son of the [[Esperanto|Esperantist]] writer [[Tivadar Soros]] and Elizabeth Soros. Tivadar (also known as Teodoro) was a [[Hungarian Jew]], who was a [[prisoner of war]] during and after World War I and eventually escaped from Russia to rejoin his family in Budapest.<ref name=Kaufman>Kaufman, Michael T., Soros: The Life and Times of a Messianic Billionaire, Alfred A. Knopf: 2002</ref><ref name="NewP">{{Cite book
| last =Soros | first =George
| title =The New Paradigm for Financial Markets: The Credit Crisis of 2008 and What It Means
| publisher=PublicAffairs
| year =2008 | page =13
| url =http://books.google.com/?id=F_aBKX4AnLUC&q=Tivadar#search_anchor | doi =
| isbn =1586486837 }}</ref>

The family changed its name from Schwartz to Soros in 1936, in response to growing [[anti-semitism]] with the rise of fascism. Tivadar liked the new name because it is a [[palindrome]] and has a meaning. Although the specific meaning is left unstated in [[Michael T. Kaufman|Kaufman's]] biography, in Hungarian, ''soros'' means ''next in line'', or ''designated successor''; and, in Esperanto, it means "will soar".<ref>Kaufman, Michael T., Soros: ''The Life and Times of a Messianic Billionaire'', Alfred A. Knopf: 2002, p. 24.</ref> Tivadar taught George to [[native Esperanto speaker|speak Esperanto from birth]]. George Soros later said that he grew up in a Jewish home and that his parents were cautious with their religious roots.<ref>Slater, R.: ''Soros: The Unauthorized Biography'', page 30.</ref>

Married and divorced twice, Soros has three children with Annaliese Witschak (Robert, Andrea, Jonathan) and two with [[Susan Weber Soros]] (Alexander and Gregory). His elder brother, Paul Soros, also a private investor and philanthropist, is an engineer, who headed Soros Associates and established the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for Young Americans.<ref name=PDSoros>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pdsoros.org/overview/|title=Background and History|work=Paul and Dora Soros Fellowships for Young Americans|accessdate=March 22, 2009}}</ref><ref name=Bumiller>{{Cite news|author=Elisabeth Bumiller|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/17/nyregion/public-lives-an-overshadowed-altruist-sees-the-light.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all|title=Public Lives: An Overshadowed Altruist Sees the Light|work=[[The New York Times|New York Times]]|publisher=[[The New York Times Company|New York Times Company]]|date=June 17, 1998|accessdate=March 22, 2009}}</ref> George Soros' nephew Peter Soros, a son of Paul Soros, married the former [[Flora Fraser (writer)|Flora Fraser]] – a daughter of [[Antonia Fraser|Lady Antonia Fraser]] and the late [[Hugh Fraser (politician)|Sir Hugh Fraser]] and a stepdaughter of the late 2005 [[Nobel Prize in Literature|Nobel Laureate]] [[Harold Pinter]].<ref name=SorosFraser>{{Cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/02/style/peter-soros-and-flora-fraser.html|title=Peter Soros and Flora Fraser|work=New York Times|publisher=New York Times Company|date=February 2, 1997|accessdate=March 22, 2009}}</ref>

His son Alexander Soros is also gaining prominence for his donations to social and political causes. Alexander led the list of student political donors in the 2010 election cycle.<ref>http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2010/10/college-life-conjures-visions-of.html</ref>

==Early life==
Soros was thirteen years old in March 1944 when [[Nazi Germany]] [[Hungary during World War II|occupied Hungary]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005458 |title=Holocaust Encyclopedia |publisher=Ushmm.org |date= |accessdate=October 16, 2009}}</ref>
Soros worked for the [[Jewish Council]],<ref name=Kaufman/> which had been established during the [[Nazi occupation of Hungary]] to forcibly carry out Nazi and Hungarian government anti-Jewish measures.<ref>[http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerlsimon/2010/09/06/holocaust-denial-george-soros-vs-the-tea-parties/ Holocaust Denial: George Soros vs. the Tea Parties] by [[Roger L. Simon|Roger Simon]], September 6, 2010</ref><ref>[http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerkimball/2010/09/06/the-man-who-broke-the-bank-of-england/ The Man Who Broke the Bank of England, Spent $24&nbsp;million to Defeat George Bush, and Never Met a Left Wing-Cause he Didn’t Like] by [[Roger Kimball]], September 6, 2010</ref> Soros later described this time to writer [[Michael Lewis (author)|Michael Lewis]]:
<blockquote>The Jewish Council asked the little kids to hand out the deportation notices. I was told to go to the Jewish Council. And there I was given these small slips of paper...It said report to the rabbi seminary at 9&nbsp;am...And I was given this list of names. I took this piece of paper to my father. He instantly recognized it. This was a list of Hungarian Jewish lawyers. He said, "You deliver the slips of paper and tell the people that if they report they will be deported."<ref>Michael Lewis, "The Speculator: What on earth is multibillionaire George Soros doing throwing wads of money around in Eastern Europe?", ''The New Republic'', January 10, 1994. See also Kaufman, Michael T., Soros: The Life and Times of a Messianic Billionaire, Alfred A. Knopf: 2002, p. 32-33</ref></blockquote>

In 1944, at age 14, Soros lived with and posed as the [[Godparent|godson]] of an employee of the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture. On one occasion, the official was ordered to inventory the remaining contents of the estate of a wealthy Jewish family that had fled the country.<ref>Kaufman, Michael T., Soros: ''The Life and Times of a Messianic Billionaire'' page 37</ref> Rather than leave the young George alone in the city, the official brought him along. The following year, Soros survived the [[Battle of Budapest]], in which [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] and German forces fought house-to-house through the city.

Soros immigrated to England in 1947 and, as an impoverished student, lived with his uncle, an [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox Jew]]. His uncle paid his living expenses while he attended the [[London School of Economics]], where he received a Bachelor of Science in [[Philosophy]] in 1952.<ref>[http://www.georgesoros.com/faqs/entry/georgesorosofficialbiography/ Official Biography, accessed March 2, 2011</ref> While a student of the philosopher [[Karl Popper]], Soros worked as a railway [[Porter (carrier)|porter]] and as a waiter. A [[University don|University tutor]] requested aid for Soros, and he received [[Pound sign|£]]40 from a [[Religious Society of Friends|Religious Society of Friends (Quaker)]] charity.<ref name="NPR090409"/> He eventually secured an entry-level position with London [[merchant bank]] [[Singer & Friedlander]].

==Emigration==
In 1956, Soros moved to New York City, where he worked as an [[arbitrage]] [[Trader (finance)|trader]] with F. M. Mayer (1956–59) and as an [[Financial analyst|analyst]] with [[Wertheim & Co.]] (1959–63). Throughout this time, Soros developed a philosophy of ''[[reflexivity (social theory)|reflexivity]]'' based on the ideas of [[Karl Popper]]. Reflexivity, as used by Soros, is the belief that the action of beholding the [[Valuation (finance)|valuation]] of any market, by its participants, affects said valuation of the market in a [[procyclical]] 'virtuous or vicious' circle.<ref name="A">{{Cite book|author=Soros, George|title=The New Paradigm for Financial Markets |publisher=Public Affairs, New York |year=2008|isbn=978-1-58648-683-9 }}</ref>

Soros realized, however, that he would not make any money from the concept of reflexivity until he went into investing on his own. He began to investigate how to deal in [[investment]]s. From 1963 to 1973, he worked at [[Arnhold and S. Bleichroder]], where he attained the position of Vice-President. Soros finally concluded that he was a better investor than he was a philosopher or an executive. In 1967, he persuaded the company to set up First Eagle, an [[Offshore fund|offshore investment fund]] for him to run; and, in 1969, it founded the Double Eagle [[hedge fund]] for him.<ref name="A" />

In 1973, when investment regulations restricted his ability to run the funds as he wished, he resigned his position and established a private investment company, which evolved into the [[Quantum Fund]]. He has stated that his intent was to earn enough money on [[Wall Street]] to support himself as an author and philosopher&nbsp;—he calculated that $500,000 after five years would be possible and adequate.

He also once had a small stake in the [[Carlyle Group]].<ref name="A" />

==Business==
In 1970, Soros founded [[Soros Fund Management]] with [[Jim Rogers]]. In 1973, he left [[Arnhold and S. Bleichroder]] to set up his own [[hedge fund]] with US$12&nbsp;million from investors. Christoper Ink was also involved, and other partners have included [[Victor Niederhoffer]] and [[Stanley Druckenmiller]]. Rogers retired from the fund in 1980.

Initially called the Soros Fund, it was eventually renamed the Quantum Fund. In 2000, the [[Quantum Group of Funds]] was reorganized, and the flagship Quantum Endowment Fund was established. Soros Fund Management LLC is the principal advisor to the Quantum Endowment Fund. George Soros is the Chairman of Soros Fund Management. The firm's day-to-day operations are managed by Soros's two elder sons and the firm's [[Chief Investment Officer]] Keith Anderson. The fund has assets of approximately $27&nbsp;billion.<ref name="georgesoros.com">http://www.georgesoros.com/faqs/archive/category/finance/</ref>
Recent investments include the 2010 purchase of a 20% stake in [[BNK Petroleum]].<ref name="GuruFocus.com">http://www.gurufocus.com/news.php?id=109858</ref>

In 2007, the Quantum Fund returned almost 32%, netting Soros $2.9&nbsp;billion.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/16/business/16wall.html?ex=1366084800&en=1eee7351824a31ce&ei=5124
|title=Wall Street Winners Get Billion-Dollar Paydays
|accessdate=July 28, 2008
|date=April 16, 2008
|first=Jenny
|last=Anderson
|work=New York Times
}}</ref>

In August 2010, George Soros bought a 4 per cent stake in the [[Bombay Stock Exchange]] (BSE) for about $35&nbsp;million. Soros’s Quantum hedge fund bought the stake from Dubai Financial, a part of the state-run Dubai Holdings, for an estimated Rs. 380 per share. Over 5,000 companies are listed on the exchange.<ref>[http://www.thehindu.com/business/markets/article584062.ece George Soros buys 4 p.c. in BSE for $35&nbsp;million] The Hindu, Agust 10, 2010.</ref>

===Currency speculation===
On September 16, 1992, [[Black Wednesday]], Soros's fund [[short (finance)|sold short]] more than US$10&nbsp;billion worth of pounds,<ref name="georgesoros.com"/> profiting from the UK Government's reluctance to either raise its interest rates to levels comparable to those of other [[European Exchange Rate Mechanism]] countries or to [[floating exchange rate|float]] its currency.

Finally, the UK withdrew from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, [[Devaluation|devaluing]] the [[pound sterling]], earning Soros an estimated US$1.1&nbsp;billion. He was dubbed "the man who broke the Bank of England."<ref>Litterick, David (September 13, 2002) [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2773265/Billionaire-who-broke-the-Bank-of-England.html Billionaire who Broke the Bank of England], ''The Telegraph''</ref> In 1997, the [[HM Treasury|UK Treasury]] estimated the cost of Black Wednesday at [[£]]3.4&nbsp;billion.

On Monday, October 26, 1992, ''The Times'' quoted Soros as saying: "Our total position by Black Wednesday had to be worth almost $10&nbsp;billion. We planned to sell more than that. In fact, when [[Norman Lamont (1942)|Norman Lamont]] said just before the [[devaluation]] that he would borrow nearly $15&nbsp;billion to defend sterling, we were amused because that was about how much we wanted to sell."

[[Stanley Druckenmiller]], who traded under Soros, originally saw the weakness in the pound. "Soros' contribution was pushing him to take a gigantic position."<ref>Steven Drobny, "Inside the House of Money", John Wiley & Sons: Hoboken, NJ, 2006.</ref><ref>Soros on Soros: Staying Ahead of the Curve (John Wiley, 1995) ISBN 0-471-12014-6</ref>

In 1997, during the [[Asian financial crisis]], the Prime Minister of Malaysia [[Mahathir bin Mohamad]] accused Soros of using the wealth under his control to punish the [[Association of Southeast Asian Nations|Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)]] for welcoming [[Myanmar]] as a member. Following on a history of [[Antisemitism|antisemitic]] remarks, Mahathir made specific reference to Soros's Jewish background ("It is a Jew who triggered the currency plunge"<ref>{{Cite news| url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/telegraph-view/3597972/Mahathirs-dark-side.html | location=London | work=The Daily Telegraph | title=Mahathir's dark side | date=October 24, 2003}}</ref>) and implied Soros was orchestrating the crash as part of a larger Jewish conspiracy. Nine years later, in 2006, Mahathir apologized and withdrew the accusations.<ref>http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200612/s1812946.htm</ref> In 1998's ''The Crisis of Global Capitalism: Open Society Endangered'' Soros explained his role in the crisis as follows:

<blockquote>The financial crisis that originated in Thailand in 1997 was particularly unnerving because of its scope and severity.... By the beginning of 1997, it was clear to Soros Fund Management that the discrepancy between the trade account and the capital account was becoming untenable. We sold short the Thai baht and the Malaysian ringgit early in 1997 with maturities ranging from six months to a year. (That is, we entered into contracts to deliver at future dates Thai Baht and Malaysian ringgit that we did not currently hold.) Subsequently Prime Minister Mahathir of Malaysia accused me of causing the crisis, a wholly unfounded accusation. We were not sellers of the currency during or several months before the crisis; on the contrary, we were buyers when the currencies began to decline – we were purchasing ringgits to realize the profits on our earlier speculation. (Much too soon, as it turned out. We left most of the potential gain on the table because we were afraid that Mahathir would impose capital controls. He did so, but much later.)<ref>Soros, George (1999). The Crisis of Global Capitalism: Open Society Endangered, 2nd ed., PublicAffairs, ISBN 1-891220-27-4, pp. 208–209.</ref> </blockquote>

The nominal U.S. dollar [[Gross domestic product|Gross domestic product (GDP)]] of the ASEAN fell by US$9.2&nbsp;billion in 1997 and US$218.2&nbsp;billion (31.7%) in 1998.

===Public predictions===
Soros' book, ''The New Paradigm for Financial Markets'' (May 2008), described a "superbubble" that had built up over the past 25 years and was ready to collapse. This was the third in a series of books he has written that have predicted disaster. As he states:
{{quote|I have a record of crying wolf... I did it first in ''The Alchemy of Finance'' (in 1987), then in ''The Crisis of Global Capitalism'' (in 1998) and now in this book. So it's three books predicting disaster. (After) the boy cried wolf three times... the wolf really came.<ref name="predict">"[http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121400427331093457.html?mod=hps_us_at_glance_markets Soros, the Man Who Cries Wolf], Now Is Warning of a 'Superbubble'" by Greg Ip, B1, June 21–22, 2008 ''The Wall Street Journal''.</ref>}}

He ascribes his own success to being able to recognize when his predictions are wrong.

{{quote|I'm only rich because I know when I'm wrong... I basically have survived by recognizing my mistakes. I very often used to get backaches due to the fact that I was wrong. Whenever you are wrong you have to fight or [take] flight. When [I] make the decision, the backache goes away.<ref name="predict"/>}}

In February 2009, George Soros said the world financial system had effectively disintegrated, adding that there was no prospect of a near-term resolution to the crisis.<ref>[http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE51K0A920090221 Soros sees no bottom for world financial "collapse"], ''[[Reuters]]'', February 21, 2009, Retrieved on August 17, 2009.</ref>
"We witnessed the collapse of the financial system[...]It was placed on life support, and it's still on life support. There's no sign that we are anywhere near a bottom."

===Insider trading conviction===
In 1988, he was asked to join a [[takeover]] attempt of the French bank [[Société Générale]]. He declined to participate in the bid but later bought a number of shares in the company. French authorities began an investigation in 1989, and in 2002 a French court ruled that it was [[insider trading]], a felony conviction as defined under French securities laws, and fined him $2.3&nbsp;million, which was the amount that he made using the insider information.

Punitive damages were not sought because of the delay in bringing the case to trial. Soros denied any wrongdoing and said news of the takeover was public knowledge.<ref name=pbs>[http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript_soros.html David Brancaccio interviews George Soros], ''Now'', PBS, September 12, 2003, accessed Feb. 8, 2007.</ref>

His insider trading conviction was upheld by the highest court in France on June 14, 2006.<ref>[http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/06/14/business/soros.php Insider trading conviction of Soros is upheld] ''International Herald Tribune''</ref> In December 2006 he appealed to the [[European Court of Human Rights]], claiming that the 14-year delay in bringing the case to trial precluded a fair hearing.<ref>[http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/13/bloomberg/bxsoros.php Soros appeals conviction for insider trading, Billionaire takes French conviction to European court]
(International Herald Tribune)December 14, 2006</ref>

===Sports===
In 2005, Soros was a minority partner in a group that tried to buy the [[Washington Nationals]], a [[Major League Baseball|Major League]] baseball team. Some Republican lawmakers suggested that they might move to revoke baseball's antitrust exemption if Soros bought the team.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/27/AR2005062701447.html |title=Soros's Nats Bid Irks Republicans |work=The Washington Post |date= June 28, 2005|accessdate=May 19, 2010}}</ref> In 2008, Soros' name was associated with [[AS Roma]], an Italian football team but the club was not sold. Soros was also a financial backer of Washington Soccer L.P., the group that owned the operating rights to [[Major League Soccer]] club [[D.C. United]] when the league was founded in 1995, but the group lost these rights in 2000.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/62439758.html?dids=62439758:62439758&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&fmac=&date=Oct+12%2C+2000&author=Steven+Goff&desc=United%27s+Ownership+Uncertain%3B+After+Sale+Fell+Through%2C+MLS+Might+Take+Over+Operation |title=United's Ownership Uncertain; After Sale Fell Through, MLS Might Take Over Operation |publisher=Pqasb.pqarchiver.com |date= October 12, 2000|accessdate=October 16, 2009 | first=Steven | last=Goff}}</ref>

==Philanthropy==
{{Main|List of projects supported by George Soros}}

[[Image:George Soros Billington.jpg|right|thumb|George Soros (left) and [[James H. Billington]].]]
Soros has been active as a philanthropist since the 1970s, when he began providing funds to help [[African|black students]] attend the [[University of Cape Town]] in [[apartheid]] South Africa,<ref name="GSb">[http://www.osf.sk/en/Default.aspx?CatID=96 "George Soros biography"], Open Society Foundation</ref> and began funding dissident movements behind the [[iron curtain]].

Soros' philanthropic funding includes efforts to promote non-violent [[democratization]] in the [[post-Soviet states]]. These efforts, mostly in [[Central Europe|Central]] and Eastern Europe, occur primarily through the [[Open Society Institute]] (OSI) and national [[Soros Foundation]]s, which sometimes go under other names (such as the [[Stefan Batory Foundation]] in Poland). As of 2003, [[PBS]] estimated that he had given away a total of $4&nbsp;billion.<ref name=pbs/> The OSI says it has spent about $500&nbsp;million annually in recent years.

''Time'' magazine in 2007 cited two specific projects – $100&nbsp;million toward Internet infrastructure for regional [[List of institutions of higher learning in Russia|Russian universities]]; and $50&nbsp;million for the [[Millennium Promise]] to eradicate extreme poverty in Africa&nbsp;— while noting that Soros has given $742&nbsp;million to projects in the U.S., and given away a total of more than $7&nbsp;billion.<ref>http://georgesoros.com/faqs/entry/georgesorosphilanthropyisunprecedented/</ref>

Other notable projects have included aid to scientists and universities throughout Central and Eastern Europe, help to civilians during the [[siege of Sarajevo]], and [[Transparency International]]. Soros also pledged an endowment of €420&nbsp;million to the [[Central European University]] (CEU). The [[Nobel Peace Prize]] winner [[Muhammad Yunus]] and his [[microfinance]] bank [[Grameen Bank]] received support from the OSI.

According to ''[[National Review]]''<ref>York, Byron, [http://www.nationalreview.com/york/york200502170843.asp Soros Funded Stewart Defense], ''National Review Online''. Retrieved February 7, 2007.</ref> the Open Society Institute gave $20,000 in September 2002 to the Defense Committee of [[Lynne Stewart]], the lawyer who has defended alleged terrorists in court and was sentenced to 2⅓ years in prison for "providing material support for a terrorist conspiracy" via a press conference for a client. An OSI spokeswoman said "it appeared to us at that time that there was a right-to-counsel issue worthy of our support."

In September 2006 Soros pledged $50&nbsp;million to the Millennium Promise, led by economist [[Jeffrey Sachs]] to provide educational, agricultural, and medical aid to help villages in Africa enduring poverty. The New York Times termed this endeavor a "departure" for Soros whose philanthropic focus had been on fostering democracy and good government, but Soros noted that most poverty resulted from bad governance.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Dugger |first=Celia W. |url=http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/09/13/us/13soros.html |title=Philanthropist Gives $50&nbsp;Million to Help Aid the Poor in Africa |location=Africa |publisher=Travel2.nytimes.com |date=September 13, 2006 |accessdate=October 16, 2009}}</ref>

He received honorary doctoral degrees from the [[New School for Social Research]] (New York), the University of Oxford in 1980, the [[Corvinus University of Budapest]], and [[Yale University]] in 1991. Soros also received the Yale International Center for Finance Award from the [[Yale School of Management]] in 2000 as well as the Laurea Honoris Causa, the highest honor of the [[University of Bologna]] in 1995.

===Political donations and activism===
====United States====

In an interview with ''[[The Washington Post]]'' on November 11, 2003, Soros said that removing President [[George W. Bush]] from office was the "central focus of my life" and "a matter of life and death." He said he would sacrifice his entire fortune to defeat President Bush, "if someone guaranteed it."<ref name=deeppockets>Laura Blumenfeld, [http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A24179-2003Nov10?language=printerSoros's Deep Pockets vs. Bush, Financier Contributes $5&nbsp;Million More in Effort to Oust President], [[Washington Post]], November 11, 2003; Page A03</ref> Soros gave $3&nbsp;million to the [[Center for American Progress]], $2.5&nbsp;million to [[MoveOn.org]], and $20&nbsp;million<ref>"Soros, who would eventually give ACT $20&nbsp;million of his own money" from http://old.nationalreview.com/york/york200508030928.asp</ref> to [[America Coming Together]]. These groups worked to support Democrats in the [[U.S. presidential election, 2004|2004 election]]. On September 28, 2004 he dedicated more money to the campaign and kicked off his own multi-state tour with a speech: ''Why We Must Not Re-elect President Bush''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0928-16.htm |title=Why We Must Not Re-elect President Bush |publisher=Commondreams.org |date=September 28, 2004 |accessdate=October 16, 2009}}</ref> delivered at the [[National Press Club (USA)|National Press Club]] in Washington, DC. The online transcript to this speech received many hits after [[Dick Cheney]] accidentally referred to [[FactCheck|FactCheck.org]] as "factcheck.com" in the Vice Presidential debate, causing the owner of that domain to redirect all traffic to Soros's site.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Suellentrop |first=Chris |url=http://www.slate.com/id/2107809/ |title=Cheney Drops the Ball |publisher=Slate.com |date=October 6, 2004 |accessdate=October 16, 2009}}</ref> Asked in 2006 about his statement in ''The Age of Fallibility'' that "the main obstacle to a stable and just world order is the United States", Soros responded that "it happens to coincide with the prevailing opinion in the world. And I think that's rather shocking for Americans to hear. The United States sets the agenda for the world. And the rest of the world has to respond to that agenda. By declaring a 'war on terror' after September 11, we set the wrong agenda for the world. [...] when you wage war, you inevitably create innocent victims."<ref>[http://www.newsweek.com/2006/06/27/america-the-dangerous.html America the Dangerous?] – Newsweek interview with George Soros</ref>

Soros was not a large donor to US political causes until the 2004 presidential election, but according to the Center for Responsive Politics, during the 2003–2004 election cycle, Soros donated $23,581,000 to various [[527 Group|527 groups]] dedicated to defeating President Bush. A 527 group is a type of American tax-exempt organization named after a section of the United States tax code, 26 U.S.C. § 527. Despite Soros' efforts, Bush was reelected to a second term as president.

After Bush's re-election, Soros and other donors backed a new political fundraising group called [[Democracy Alliance]], which supports progressive causes and the formation of a stronger progressive infrastructure in America.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/16/AR2006071600882_pf.html|title=New Alliance Of Democrats Spreads Funding
|accessdate=July 17, 2006 | work=The Washington Post}}</ref>

In August 2009, Soros donated $35&nbsp;million to the state of New York to be ear-marked for under-privileged children and given to parents who had benefit cards at the rate of $200 per child aged 3 through 17, with no limit as to the number of children that qualified. An additional $140&nbsp;million was put into the fund by the state of New York from money they had received from the 2009 federal recovery act.<ref name="NPR090409">{{Cite web|author=All Things Considered |url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111786652 |title=Soros Uses Leverage To Aid New York Children |publisher=Npr.org |date=August 11, 2009 |accessdate=October 16, 2009}}</ref>

On October 26, 2010, George Soros donated $1&nbsp;million to the [[Drug Policy Alliance]] to fund [[Proposition 19]], the biggest donation in the campaign, that would have [[Legality of cannabis|legalized marijuana]] in the state of California if it had passed in the [[California state elections, November 2010|November 2, 2010 elections]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/nov05election/detail?entry_id=75546 |title=George Soros gives $1&nbsp;million to Prop. 19 campaign|work=San Francisco Chronicle |accessdate=October 26, 2010|first=Kevin|last=Fagan|date=October 26, 2010}}</ref>

====Eastern Europe====
According to Neil Clark in the ''[[New Statesman]]'', Soros's role was crucial in the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe.<ref name="Clark">{{Cite web| url = http://www.newstatesman.com/200306020019 | title = Soros Profile |work=the New Statesman |location=UK | first = Neil | last = Clark | accessdate = June 6, 2007 }}</ref> From 1979, as an advocate of '[[Open society|open societies]]', Soros financially supported dissidents including Poland's [[Solidarity (Polish trade union)|Solidarity]] movement, [[Charter 77]] in Czechoslovakia and [[Andrei Sakharov]] in the [[Soviet Union]]<ref name="GSb"/> donating $3&nbsp;million a year according to Clark.<ref name="Clark"/> In 1984, he founded his first [[Open Society Institute]] in Hungary and pumped millions of dollars into opposition movements and independent media. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Soros' funding has continued to play an important role in the former Soviet sphere. His funding of pro-democratic programs in of [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] was considered by Russian and Western observers to be crucial to the success of the [[Rose Revolution]], although Soros has said that his role has been "greatly exaggerated."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/5/31/164945.shtml |title=Soros Downplays Role in Georgia Revolution |publisher=Archive.newsmax.com |date=June 1, 2005 |accessdate=October 16, 2009}}</ref> [[Alexander Lomaia]], Secretary of the Georgian Security Council and former Minister of Education and Science, is a former Executive Director of the Open Society Georgia Foundation ([[Soros Foundation]]), overseeing a staff of 50 and a budget of $2,500,000.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.oecd.org/document/49/0,2340,en_21571361_36507471_37001521_1_1_1_1,00.html |title=Alexander Lomaia&nbsp;— Minister of Education and Science (Georgia) |publisher=Oecd.org |date= |accessdate=October 16, 2009}}</ref>

Former Georgian Foreign Minister [[Salomé Zourabichvili]] wrote that institutions like the Soros Foundation were the cradle of democratisation and that all the NGOs which gravitated around the Soros Foundation undeniably carried the revolution. She opines that after the revolution the Soros Foundation and the NGOs were integrated into power.<ref>Salomé Zourabichvili, ''Herodote'' (magazine of the French Institute for Geopolitics, April 2008</ref>

Some Soros-backed pro-democracy initiatives have been banned in [[Kazakhstan]] and [[Turkmenistan]].<ref>Fred Weir: [http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0210/p01s03-wosc.html Democracy rising in ex-Soviet states], ''[[Christian Science Monitor]]'', February 10, 2005</ref> Ercis Kurtulus, head of the Social Transparency Movement Association (TSHD) in [[Turkey]], said in an interview that "Soros carried out his will in Ukraine and Georgia by using these NGOs...Last year Russia passed a special law prohibiting NGOs from taking money from foreigners. I think this should be banned in Turkey as well."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.globalpolicy.org/ngos/fund/2006/1011puppets.htm |title=Does Foreign Funding Make NGOs into Puppets? |publisher=Globalpolicy.org |date=October 11, 2006 |accessdate=October 16, 2009}}</ref> In 1997, Soros had to close his foundation in [[Belarus]] after it was fined $3&nbsp;million by the government for "tax and currency violations". According to ''[[The New York Times]]'', the Belarussian president [[Alexander Lukashenko]] has been widely criticized in the West and in Russia for his efforts to control the Belarus Soros Foundation and other independent NGOs and to suppress civil and human rights. Soros called the fines part of a campaign to "destroy independent society".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Miller |first=Judith |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9400E0D91530F937A3575AC0A961958260 |title=Soros Closes Foundation In Belarus |work=New York Times |date=September 4, 1997 |accessdate=October 16, 2009}}</ref>

In June 2009, Soros donated $100m to Central Europe and Eastern Europe to counter the impact of the [[Late-2000s recession|economic crisis]] on the poor, voluntary groups and non-government organisations.<ref>[http://www.unian.net/eng/news/news-321844.html Soros donates $100&nbsp;million to Europe], [[UNIAN]] (June 19, 2009)</ref>

====Africa====
The [[Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa]] is a Soros-affiliated organization. [http://www.osf.org.za/home/] Its director for [[Zimbabwe]] is Godfrey Kanyenze, who also directs the [[Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions]] (ZCTU), which was the main force behind the founding of the [[Movement for Democratic Change (pre-2005)|Movement for Democratic Change]], the principal indigenous organization promoting [[regime change]] in Zimbabwe.

====Drug policy reform====
Soros has funded worldwide efforts to promote [[drug policy reform]]. In 2008, Soros donated $400,000 to help fund a successful ballot measure in Massachusetts known as the [[Massachusetts Sensible Marijuana Policy Initiative]] which decriminalized possession of less than 1 oz (28g) of marijuana in the state. Soros has also funded similar measures in California, Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Nevada and Maine.<ref>LeBlanc, Steve, [http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hQsksgZ-IN6nYS3jJ2NcqpufBlLgD92QQPS00 Soros behind Mass. effort to decriminalize pot], Associated Press, August 27, 2008</ref> Among the drug decriminalization groups that have received funding from Soros are the [[Lindesmith Center]] and [[Drug Policy Foundation]].<ref>[http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=4416 Norml.org], National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws</ref>

Soros donated $1.4&nbsp;million to publicity efforts to support California's [[California Proposition 5 (2008)|Proposition 5]] in 2008, a failed ballot measure that would have expanded [[drug rehabilitation]] programs as alternatives to prison for persons convicted of non-violent drug-related offenses. [http://www.prop5yes.com/]<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/la-me-billionaires1-2008nov01,0,3904554.story |title=Wealthy Californians put their agendas to a vote |work=Los Angeles Times |date=November 1, 2008 |accessdate=October 16, 2009 | first=Evan | last=Halper}}</ref>

In October 2010, Soros donated $1&nbsp;million to support California's [[California Proposition 19 (2010)|Proposition 19]].<ref>{{Cite news|title=George Soros gives $1&nbsp;million to Prop. 19 campaign|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/nov05election/detail?entry_id=75546|work=San Francisco Chronicle |accessdate=October 30, 2010|date=October 26, 2010|first=Kevin|last=Fagan}}</ref>

According to remarks in an interview in October 2009, it is Soros's opinion that marijuana is less addictive but not appropriate for use by children and students. He himself has not used marijuana for years.<ref>[http://www.sr.se/webbradio/webbradio.asp?type=db&Id=1992351&BroadcastDate=&IsBlock= Gorge Soros. Ekots lördagsintevju], Swedish Radio, October 10 2009</ref>

====Death and dying====
The Project on Death in America, active from 2001–2003, was one of the Open Society Institute's projects, which sought to "understand and transform the culture and experience of dying and bereavement."<ref>[http://www.soros.org/death Project on Death in America] {{Wayback|url=http://www.soros.org/death|date =20080603005835|bot=DASHBot}}</ref> In 1994, Soros delivered a speech in which he reported that he had offered to help his mother, a member of the [[Hemlock Society]], commit suicide.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20010622072255/http://www.soros.org/death/george_soros.htm |title=George Soros: Reflections on Death in America &#124; Project on Death in America |publisher=Web.archive.org |date=June 22, 2001 |accessdate=October 16, 2009|archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20080603005835/http%3A//www.soros.org/death |archivedate = June 3, 2008|deadurl=yes}}</ref> In the same speech, he also endorsed the [[Oregon Death with Dignity Act]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20020325032428/www.soros.org/death/george_soros3.htm |title=George Soros: Reflections on Death in America contd. 2 &#124; Project on Death in America |publisher=Web.archive.org |date=March 25, 2002 |accessdate=October 16, 2009}}</ref> the campaign for which he helped fund.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1252/is_n20_v124/ai_20520550 |title=Fatal prescription&nbsp;— re-enactment of the Oregon Death With Dignity Act on physician-assisted suicide &#124; Commonweal &#124; Find Articles at BNET |publisher=Findarticles.com |date= |accessdate=October 16, 2009 | year=1997}}</ref>

==Philosophy==
===Education and beliefs===
His philosophical outlook is influenced by [[Karl Popper]], under whom he studied at the [[London School of Economics]] (LSE). His Open Society Institute is named after Popper's two volume work, ''[[The Open Society and Its Enemies]]'', and Soros's ongoing philosophical commitment to the principle of [[fallibilism]] (that anything he believes may in fact be wrong, and is therefore to be questioned and improved) stems from Popper's philosophy.

===Reflexivity, financial markets, and economic theory===
Soros' writings focus heavily on the concept of [[reflexivity (social theory)|reflexivity]], where the biases of individuals enter into market transactions, potentially changing the perception of fundamentals of the economy. Soros argues that such transitions in the perceptions of fundamentals of the economy are typically marked by disequilibrium rather than equilibrium, and that the conventional economic theory of the market (the '[[efficient market hypothesis]]') does not apply in these situations. Soros has popularized the concepts of ''dynamic disequilibrium'', ''static disequilibrium'', and ''near-equilibrium'' conditions.<ref name="A" />

Reflexivity is based on three main ideas:<ref name="A" />
# Reflexivity is best observed under special conditions where investor bias grows and spreads throughout the investment arena. Examples of factors that may give rise to this bias include (a) equity leveraging or (b) the trend-following habits of speculators.
# Reflexivity appears intermittently since it is most likely to be revealed under certain conditions; i.e., the character of the equilibrium process is best considered in terms of probabilities.
# Investors' observation of and participation in the capital markets may at times influence valuations AND fundamental conditions or outcomes.

A current example of reflexivity in modern financial markets is that of the debt and equity of housing markets. Lenders began to make more money available to more people in the 1990s to buy houses. More people bought houses with this larger amount of money, thus increasing the prices of these houses. Lenders looked at their balance sheets which not only showed that they had made more loans, but that their equity backing the loans—the value of the houses, had gone up (because more money was chasing the same amount of housing, relatively). Thus they lent out more money because their balance sheets looked good, they were guaranteed by the Federal Government, and prices went up more. This was further amplified by public policy. Many governments see home ownership as a positive outcome and so first home owners grant and other financial subsidies&nbsp;— or influences to buy a home such as the exemption of a primary residence from capital gains taxation&nbsp;— mean that house purchases were seen as a good thing. Prices increased rapidly, and lending standards were relaxed. The salient issue regarding reflexivity is that it explains why markets gyrate over time, and do not just stick to equilibrium—they tend to overshoot or undershoot.<ref name="A" />

===View of potential problems in the free market system===

Despite working as an investor and currency speculator, he argues that the current system of financial speculation undermines healthy economic development in many underdeveloped countries. Soros blames many of the world's problems on the failures inherent in what he characterizes as [[market fundamentalism]]. His opposition to many aspects of globalization has made him a controversial figure.

[[Victor Niederhoffer]] said of Soros: "Most of all, George believed even then in a [[mixed economy]], one with a strong central international government to correct for the excesses of self-interest."

Soros claims to draw a distinction between being a participant in the market and working to change the rules that market participants must follow. According to [[Mahathir bin Mohamed]], Prime Minister of [[Malaysia]] from July 1981 to October 2003, Soros&nbsp;— as the hedge fund chief of Quantum&nbsp;— may have been partially responsible for the economic crash in 1997 of East Asian markets when the Thai currency relinquished its peg to the US dollar. According to Mahathir, in the three years leading to the crash, Soros invested in short-term speculative investment in East Asian stock markets and real estate, then divested with "indecent haste" at the first signs of [[currency devaluation]].<ref>chapter 10 "The Developmental States of East Asia." Hoogvelt, Ankie. 2001. in Globalization and the Postcolonial World: The New Political Economy of Development. Balimore, MD: Johns Hopkins Press.</ref> Soros replied, saying that Mahathir was using him "as a scapegoat for his own mistakes", that Mahathir's promises to ban currency trading (which Malaysian finance officials hastily retracted) were "a recipe for disaster" and that Mahathir "is a menace to his own country".<ref>Maggie Farley: [http://articles.latimes.com/p/1997/sep/22/business/fi-34969 Malaysian Leader, Soros Trade Barbs], ''Los Angeles Times'', September 22, 1997</ref>

In an interview regarding the [[late-2000s recession]], Soros referred to it as the most serious crisis since the 1930s. According to Soros, market fundamentalism with its assumption that markets will correct themselves with no need for government intervention in financial affairs has been "some kind of an ideological excess". In Soros' view, the markets' moods&nbsp;— a "mood" of the markets being a prevailing bias or optimism/pessimism with which the markets look at reality&nbsp;— "actually can reinforce themselves so that there are these initially self-reinforcing but eventually unsustainable and self-defeating boom/bust sequences or bubbles".<ref>Bill Moyers Journal, George Soros on the financial crisis, published October 10, 2008, at <nowiki>http://odeo.com</nowiki>, [http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/10102008/transcript1.html full transcript] and [http://odeo.com/episodes/23475214-George-Soros-on-the-financial-crisis podcast]</ref>

In reaction to the late-2000s recession he founded the [[Institute for New Economic Thinking]] in October 2009. This is a think-tank composed of international economic, business and financial experts, mandated to investigate radical new approaches to organising the international economic and financial system.

===Views on antisemitism===
At a Jewish forum in New York City, November 5, 2003, Soros partially attributed a recent resurgence of [[antisemitism]] to the policies of Israel and the United States, and to successful Jews such as himself:<blockquote>
There is a resurgence of anti-Semitism in Europe. The policies of the Bush administration and the [[Ariel Sharon|Sharon]] administration contribute to that. It's not specifically anti-Semitism, but it does manifest itself in anti-Semitism as well. I'm critical of those policies... If we change that direction, then anti-Semitism also will diminish. I can't see how one could confront it directly... I'm also very concerned about my own role because the new anti-Semitism holds that the Jews rule the world... As an unintended consequence of my actions... I also contribute to that image.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Kampeas |first=Ron |url=http://www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?intarticleid=13428 |title=jta.org |publisher=jta.org |date=October 12, 2009 |accessdate=October 16, 2009}}</ref>
</blockquote>
In a subsequent article for ''[[The New York Review of Books]]'', Soros emphasized that<blockquote>
I do not subscribe to the myths propagated by enemies of Israel and I am not blaming Jews for anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism predates the birth of Israel. Neither Israel's policies nor the critics of those policies should be held responsible for anti-Semitism. At the same time, I do believe that attitudes toward Israel are influenced by Israel's policies, and attitudes toward the Jewish community are influenced by the pro-Israel lobby's success in suppressing divergent views.<ref>Soros, George. [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/20030 "On Israel, America and AIPAC."] ''New York Review of Books'', April 12, 2007.</ref>
</blockquote>

===Views on China===
Soros has expressed concern about the growth of Chinese economic and political power. "China has risen very rapidly by looking out for its own interests ... They have now got to accept responsibility for world order and the interests of other people as well." Regarding the political gridlock in America, he said, "Today China has not only a more vigorous economy, but actually a better functioning government than the United States".<ref>[http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/11/16/soros_china_has_better_functioning_government_than_us Soros: China has better functioning government than U.S.]</ref>

==Wealth==
In 2010, ''[[Forbes]]'' lists Soros as the [[Forbes list of billionaires]] 35th richest person in the world, and the 14th richest person in America, with a net worth estimated at {{US$|14.2 billion}}.<ref name="Forbes 400"/> Soros has given away $7&nbsp;billion to various causes since 1979.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.forbes.com/lists/2010/10/billionaires-2010_The-Worlds-Billionaires_Rank_2.html|title=The World's Billionaires |date=March 10, 2010|work=Forbes|accessdate=August 22, 2010}}</ref>

==Relation to Hungarian politics==
In the 1980s [[Viktor Orbán]], Chairman of Fidesz (1994–2000, 2000–) and Prime Minister (1998–2002, 2010–) and [[László Kövér]], Chairman of Fidesz (2000), Secret Service Minister (1998–2002) and Speaker of the National Assembly of Hungary (2010–), were Soros scholarship recipients. Furthermore the Orban cabinet's Deputy Prime Minister István Stumpf – now member of the [[Constitutional Court of Hungary|Constitutional Court]] – was a member of the Soros Foundation's Board of Trustees between 1994 and 2002.

==Books==
===Authored or co-authored===

*''The New Paradigm for Financial Markets: The Credit Crisis of 2008 and What it Means'' (PublicAffairs, 2008). ISBN 1-58648-683-7
*''The Age of Fallibility: Consequences of the War on Terror'' (PublicAffairs, 2006) ISBN 1-58648-359-5
*''The Bubble of American Supremacy: Correcting the Misuse of American Power'' (PublicAffairs, 2003) ISBN 1-58648-217-3 (paperback; PublicAffairs, 2004; ISBN 1-58648-292-0)
*''George Soros on Globalization'' (PublicAffairs, 2002) ISBN 1-58648-125-8 (paperback; PublicAffairs, 2005; ISBN 1-52648-278-5)
*''Open Society: Reforming Global Capitalism'' (PublicAffairs, 2001) ISBN 1-58648-039-7
*With Mark Amadeus Notturno, ''Science and the Open Society: The Future of Karl Popper's Philosophy'' (Central European University Press, 2000) ISBN 963-9116-69-6 (paperback: Central European University Press, 2000; ISBN 943-9116-70-X)
*''The Crisis of Global Capitalism: Open Society Endangered'' (PublicAffairs, 1998) ISBN 1-891220-27-4
*''Soros on Soros: Staying Ahead of the Curve'' (John Wiley, 1995) ISBN 0-471-12014-6 (paperback; Wiley, 1995; ISBN 0-371-11977-6)
*''Underwriting Democracy: Encouraging Free Enterprise and Democratic Reform Among the Soviets and in Eastern Europe'' (Free Press, 1991) ISBN 0-02-930285-4 (paperback; PublicAffairs, 2004; ISBN 1-58948-227-0)
*''Opening the Soviet System'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1990) ISBN 0-297-82155-9 (paperback: Perseus Books, 1996; ISBN 0-8133-1205-1)
*''The Alchemy of Finance'' (Simon & Schuster, 1988) ISBN 0-671-66338-4 (paperback: Wiley, 2003; ISBN 0-471-44549-5)

===Biographies===
*''Soros: The Life and Times of a Messianic Billionaire'' by Michael T. Kaufman (Alfred A. Knopf, 2002) ISBN 0-375-40585-2
*''Soros: The World's Most Influential Investor'' by Robert Slater (McGraw-Hill Professional, 2009) ISBN 978-0-07-160844-2

==Journalism==
===Authored===
*George Soros, [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303467004575574450703567656.html#articleTabs%3Darticle "Why I support legal marijuana"], ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'', October 26, 2010.
*George Soros, [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/aug/19/crisis-euro/?page=2 "The Crisis and the Euro"], ''[[The New York Review of Books]]'', August 19, 2010.
*George Soros, [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/20030 "On Israel, America and AIPAC"], ''The New York Review of Books'', April 12, 2007.
*George Soros, "[http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2003/12/soros.htm The Bubble of American Supremacy]", ''[[The Atlantic]]'', December 2003.
*George Soros, [http://assistivemedia.org/politics_and_public_issues/the_bubble_of_american_suprema.html ''The Bubble of American Supremacy''], audio recording of ''The Atlantic'' article via ''Assistive Media'', read by Grover Gardner, 18 minutes.
*George Soros, [http://lists.essential.org/pipermail/stop-imf/2002q3/000687.html "Soros on Brazil"], ''[[Financial Times]]'', August 13, 2002.
*George Soros, [http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/4135.html "Bitter Thoughts with Faith in Russia"], ''[[Moskovskiye Novosti]]'' (''[[Moscow News]]''), translated from the Russian by Olga Kryazheva, February 27, 2000.
*George Soros, [http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/soros.htm "The Capitalist Threat"], ''The Atlantic Monthly'', February 1997.
*George Soros, [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9973c5b0-8a6d-11dd-a76a-0000779fd18c.html?nclick_check=1 "Paulson Cannot be Allowed a Blank Cheque"], ''Financial Times'', September 24, 2008

===About===
*Stephen Adams [http://www.family.org/cforum/citizenmag/coverstory/a0033418.cfm "Furious George"] on Citizen&nbsp;— Family Issues in Policy and Culture
*John Authers, [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/304f1e6e-253b-11dd-a14a-000077b07658,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2F304f1e6e-253b-11dd-a14a-000077b07658.html%3Fnclick_check%3D1&_i_referer=&nclick_check=1 Book Review], "A successful prophet of the markets," [[Financial Times]], May 19, 2008.
*Laura Blumenfeld, ''[http://www.msnbc.com/news/991865.asp?vts=111120030842&cp1=1 Billionaire Soros Takes On Bush]'', MSNBC, November 11, 2003
*Connie Bruck, [http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1995/01/23/1995_01_23_054_TNY_CARDS_000368926 Abstract of New Yorker profile of Soros "The World According to Soros"], [http://www.newyorker.com/ The New Yorker], January 23, 1995
*Neil Clark [http://www.mindfully.org/WTO/2003/George-Soros-Statesman2jun03.htm Analysis of Soros' role in Eastern Europe] from "New Statesman"
*[[Malcolm Gladwell]], "Blowing Up," [[The New Yorker]], April 22 & 29, 2002, at [http://www.gladwell.com/2002/2002_04_29_a_blowingup.htm gladwell.com].
*John Horvath [http://www.heise.de/tp/english/inhalt/te/1292/1.html The Soros Effect on Central and Eastern Europe]
*Matt Welch, ''[http://reason.com/archives/2003/12/08/open-season-on-open-society Open Season on 'Open Society': Why an anti-communist Holocaust survivor is being demonized as a Socialist, Self-hating Jew]'' [[Reason (magazine)|Reason]] magazine, December 8, 2003
*[[Martin Peretz]], "Tyran-a-Soros: The Madness of King George," [[The New Republic]], February 12, 2007.
*[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,986206-7,00.html TIME's 25 Most Influential Americans, TIME Magazine April 21, 1997]. Accessed May 21, 2007.
*[http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/time100powergivers/article/0,28804,1616375_1615711_1615683,00.html The TIME 100, The Power Givers, George Soros, TIME Magazine May 14, 2007] accessed May 21, 2007.

===Scholarly perspectives===
*{{Cite journal|last=Bryant |first=C. G. A. |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=2002 |month= |title=George Soros's theory of reflexivity: a comparison with the theories of Giddens and Beck and a consideration of its practical value |journal=Economy and Society |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=112–131 |id= |url= |accessdate= |quote= |doi=10.1080/03085140120109277 }}
*{{Cite journal|last=Cross |first=R. |authorlink= |coauthors=Strachan, D. |year=1997 |month= |title=On George Soros and economic analysis |journal=Kyklos |volume=50 |issue= |pages=561–574 |id= |url= |accessdate= |quote= |doi=10.1111/1467-6435.00030 }}
*{{Cite journal|last=Kwong |first=C.P. |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=2008 |month= |title=Mathematical analysis of Soros's theory of reflexivity |journal=ArXiv: |volume=0901.4447 |issue= |pages= |id= |url=http://arxiv.org/pdf/0901.4447 }}
*{{Cite book|title=The Volatility Machine: Emerging Economies and the Threat of Financial Collapse |last=Pettis |first=Michael |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=0195143302 |pages= }}
*{{Cite journal|last=Stone |first=Diane |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=2007 |month= |title=Market Principles, Philanthropic Ideals and Public Service Values: The Public Policy Program at the Central European University |journal=PS: Political Science and Politics |volume= |issue= |pages=545–551 |id= |url= |accessdate= |quote= }}

===Speeches===
*[http://www.nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-9809/msg00082.html Testimony of George Soros to a congressional sub-committee, Sept. 15, 1998]
*[http://mertsahinoglu.com/research/the-theory-of-reflexivity-by-george-soros/ The Theory of Reflexivity Delivered April 26, 1994 to the MIT Department of Economics World Economy]
*[http://ces.iisc.ernet.in/hpg/ragh/ccs/events2007.htm "The Differences Between Natural and Social Science: Implications of Fallibility" at IISc Bangalore, January 5, 2007]
*{{Cite video
| people =George Soros introduced by Lajos Bokros | title =[http://www.ceubusiness.org/index.php?page=news&l=1&newsid=25&from=0 George Soros Lecture on the Global Financial Crisis On November&nbsp;11], 1 hour 16 minutes | medium = | publisher=[[CEU Business School]] | location =Budapest, Hungary | date =November 11, 2008}}
* Testimony before the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Oversight Hearing on FTC Advanced Rulemaking and Oil Market Manipulation<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nybooks.com/articles/21792 |title=The Perilous Price of Oil&nbsp;— The New York Review of Books |publisher=Nybooks.com |date=September 25, 2008 |accessdate=October 16, 2009}}</ref>

===Interviews===
*[http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0810/12/fzgps.01.html Fareed Zakaria discussing economic crisis with George Soros on GPS]
*[http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/2006/06/12/segments/61077 The Leonard Lopate Show (WNYC) – Audio Archive: "George Soros on Freedom"]
*[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/crash/interviews/soros.html frontline: the crash: interviews: george soros]
*[http://sweetness-light.com/archive/george-soros-on-helping-the-nazis-during-the-holocaust George Soros Interview On 60 Minutes]
*[http://www.pbs.org/wsw/tvprogram/sorosinterview.html Wall $treet Week with FORTUNE . TV Program | PBS]
*[http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1093/is_2_42/ai_54259871 Challenge: The international financial crisis – International ...]
*[http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript_soros.html NOW with Bill Moyers. Transcript. David Brancaccio interviews ...]
*[http://www.booknotes.org/Program/?ProgramID=1769 Booknotes with Brian Lamb. Transcript and streaming video.]
*[http://www.rocketboom.com/soros Rocketboom: The Age of Fallibility (Video, 2006)]
*[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6150320548187842685 Google Video: Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google interviews George Soros (Video, 2006)]
*[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,218233,00.html Fox News Interview with Neil Cavuto, October 11, 2006] Video and text, accessed May 25, 2007.
*[http://imyo.com/component/content/article/10-interview-george-soros.html Interview with George Soros, September 5, 2000]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons category}}
*{{Official website|http://georgesoros.com}}
*[http://www.soros.org/ Open Society Institute and Soros Foundations Network]
*[http://ineteconomics.org Institute for New Economic Thinking]
*[http://www.project-syndicate.org/contributor/27 Column archives] at [[Project Syndicate]]
*[http://www.nybooks.com/authors/157 Column archives] at ''[[The New York Review of Books]]''
*{{C-SPAN|georgesoros}}
*{{Charlie Rose view|242}}
*{{Guardiantopic|business/george-soros}}
*{{NYTtopic|people/s/george_soros}}
*{{Worldcat id|lccn-n86-11219}}
*{{IMDb name|2982733}}
*[http://fundville.com/fund/2516/SOROS-FUND-MANAGEMENT-LLC Soros Fund Management 13F filing and Portfolio Activities]
*[http://campus.fortunecity.com/pot/832/articles.html List of articles and speeches by and about George Soros]
*[http://www.campaignmoney.com/biography/george_soros.asp George Soros' Political Campaign Contributions]
*[http://www.forbes.com/finance/lists/54/2004/LIR.jhtml?passListId=54&passYear=2004&passListType=Person&uniqueId=L9II&datatype=Person Forbes.com: Forbes 400 Richest in America]
*[http://www.livermorereport.com/blogs/georgesoros/ George Soros in SEC Filings]
*[http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2004/10/18/041018fa_fact3?currentPage=1 The Money Man – New Yorker]
*[http://www.aworldtowin.net/reviews/SorosParadigm.html In depth review of The New Paradigm]*[http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=530814 Why Does Soros Bite Hand That Feeds Him?] in [[Investor's Business Daily]]
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2011}}

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|PLACE OF BIRTH= [[Budapest]], Hungary
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[[Category:Alumni of the London School of Economics]]
[[Category:American atheists]]
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[[Category:American philanthropists]]
[[Category:George Soros]]
[[Category:Hedge fund managers]]
[[Category:Hungarian atheists]]
[[Category:Hungarian immigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Hungarian Jews]]
[[Category:Jewish atheists]]
[[Category:Living people]]
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[[Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States]]
[[Category:People convicted of insider trading]]
[[Category:People from Budapest]]
[[Category:Stock traders]]
[[Category:Framing theorists]]
[[Category:Drug policy reform activists]]
[[Category:American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 1st Class]]
[[Category:Central European University]]

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Revision as of 23:51, 4 March 2011

This was obviously written by Soros.

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