Soros: The Life and Times of a Messianic Billionaire is a non-fiction book by Michael T. Kaufman released by Random House in 2002, that illuminates the early life, education, work, and controversial philanthropy of George Soros, a man considered by many to be one of the most enigmatic yet globally influential financiers of his era.
Synopsis A poor immigrant who made an immense fortune and became one of the largest contributing philanthropists of the twentieth century, George Soros has led a unique place in modern history. As the first biography of Soros, and written with greater depth due to his cooperation, Kaufman's work begins with Soros's childhood as a Jew in his birthplace of Budapest, Hungary, during the German and subsequent Soviet occupations in World War II. It follows him through his education at the London School of Economics, to his unprecedented success on Wall Street after his move to America, and details his reasons for establishing his philanthropic Open Society foundations.
The novel provides exclusive insights into the life of a man formerly mysterious and misunderstood, whose struggle to escape the Nazis and survive their occupation strongly contributed to his primary philanthropic goal, namely to use existing organizations and internal grass roots activism to take actions he believed would reduce restrictions on freedom of speech and promote education, economic growth, scientific progress, and civil liberties in nations throughout the world. Toward that end, his Open Society Foundation, which he began in later life and whose name he based on Karl Popper's 1945 opus, The Open Society and its Enemies, has contributed around $32 billion, the vast majority of his wealth, to countries throughout the world to promote civil liberties and economic growth.
, Soros had a net worth of $8.3 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated more than $32 billion to the Open Society Foundations, of which $15 billion have already been distributed, representing 64% of his original fortune, thus making him the "most generous giver" in terms of percentage of net worth among billionaires according to Forbes. In more recent years he has contributed to approximately 200 political action groups, most of them operating in the United States. His detractors, particularly in the countries where his organizations have been active, often question his motives, achievements, and methods, and often tie their criticisms to their belief that he strongly influences protests and political opponents through political contributions, both public and undeclared.
At the time of the book's publication, Soros was one of the most globally influential men. Kaufman explores Soros' life, motivations and contributions in the countries where his foundations are active.
The book describes Soros's difficult times as an outsider in London after fleeing Budapest. Though he received an exceptional education at the London School of Economics (LSE), as a non-resident he was required to partially finance his education through odd jobs, including working as a railway porter and a night-club waiter. While at the LSE, he received a Bachelors of Arts, and a Masters, and later received a Doctorate from the University of London. At LSE, he was briefly mentored by Karl Popper who made a lifelong impression. The book details Soros's work as a London salesman, and as a stock trader, followed by his move to work for F. M. Myer on Wall Street. Between 1969 and 1997 he operated his own hedge fund, initially named Double Eagle, and later the Soros fund. Eventually named the Quantum Fund, it has had the largest growth, and became the most profitable, of its kind in the late twentieth century. His Theory of Reflexivity, borrowed from Popper, states in simplest terms that a person cannot fully know reality, as his own actions constantly alter it in continuous feedback loops. The same concept is applied to his investment theory, and he advises investors to strongly consider how other investors and outside influences affect the market and cause market trends which must be carefully analyzed, and occasionally tend toward a full boom or a full bust.
Nobel prize nominee
Kaufman notes in his section "Giving It Away", that despite his numerous detractors, Soros has more than once been recommended for the Nobel Peace Prize. One of the beneficiaries of his foundations, Amnesty International, received the award in 1977. He had been formally nominated for the award in several of the years of the late 1990s, and numerous influential Russian leaders have recommended him for it, most notably Mikhail Gorbachev.Soros was recommended for the Novel Peace Prize by Gorbachev and other Russian leaders in Kaufman, Michael T., (2002) Soros: The Life and Times of a Messianic Billionaire, First Vintage Books Edition, Published by Random House, New York, pg. 223-4Recipients of and nominations for the Nobel Prize and Nobel Peace Prize in Kaufman, Michael T., (2002) Soros: The Life and Times of a Messianic Billionaire, First Vintage Books Edition, Published by Random House, New York, pgs. 64, 184, 230, 272, 321; xiii, 163, 177, 224, 300.
Work in Russia Chapter 19 of Soros's book notes that Soros is still strongly criticized by Vladimir Putin in contemporary Russia. In July 2015, Soros stated that Putin's annexation of Crimea was a challenge to the "prevailing world order", specifically the European Union. He hypothesized in 2015 that Putin wanted to "destabilize all of Ukraine by precipitating a financial and political collapse for which he can disclaim responsibility, while avoiding occupation of a part of eastern Ukraine, which would then depend on Russia for economic support." Despite Putin's more contemporary criticism of Soros, as a result of Soros's efforts during Glasnost and Peristroika in the 1980s and 1990s, Mikhail Gorbachev recommended him for the Nobel Peace Prize for giving grants of $100 million to Soviet scientists when the state had no money to pay them, giving $100 million to free the teachings of Humanities in Universities from their adherence to Marxism–Leninism, contributing funds to promote healthcare and fight disease, and, most notably, spending $100 million for all thirty-three regional Universities in Russia to connect to the Internet. Soros also gave additional millions to elementary and secondary schools for textbooks and libraries.Soros's work in Russia in Kaufman, Michael T., (2002) Soros: The Life and Times of a Messianic Billionaire, First Vintage Books Edition, Published by Random House, New York, New York, pgs. 222-24.
Central European University
In September 1991, funded entirely by him and staffed with globally recognized academics, Soros founded the Central European University, with its first campus in Prague, Czechoslovakia, and with two other campuses in Budapest, Hungary and Warsaw, Poland. In 2018, the central campus moved from Budapest to Vienna, Austria, forced to leave by ruling Prime Minister Viktor Orbán as a result of a judicial decision that caused public protest in Hungary and that was opposed by a subsequent ruling of the European Court of Justice. By 2019, it had graduated 16,000 students. Soros's annual gift for the operation of the university reached 20 million dollars, and his personal total endowment is approximated at $880 million.Soros, George, In Defense of Open Society, (2019), Chapter 3, "The Central European University and Its Future", Hachette Book Group, New York, New York, pgs. 93-109
Philanthropy and detractors
Additional narratives on his personal life and Soros's efforts to further human rights in Hungary, China, and Russia complete the final section of Kaufman's biography. Soros's foundations were highly active in opposing Apartheid in South Africa, and in countering what Soros viewed as the restraints on economic growth or reduction in civil liberties posed by Soviet influence in many Eastern European countries, including first his native Hungary, then Poland, Czechoslovakia, Lithuania, and the Balkans. Prior to 2009, for his work in his native Hungary towards his efforts to modernize the country, Soros was presented with the Medium Cross of Hungary's Republican Order with Stars, the country's second-highest decoration.Award from Hungary in Slater, Robert, Soros: The World's Most Influential Investor, (2009) New York, McGraw Hill, Chapter 25, pg. 242
By the early 90's Soros's foundations were active in eighteen countries, including Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and the new states of Ukraine, Belarus, Moldavia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkestan. When Yugoslavia broke apart, new foundations came into being in Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia and Bosnia.List of active countries in Kaufman, Michael T., (2002) Soros: The Life and Times of a Messianic Billionaire, First Vintage Books Edition, Published by Random House, New York, New York, pg. 244 In smaller efforts, Soros supported pro-democracy movements in Burma and school construction projects in Albania.Burma and Albania in Kaufman, Michael T., (2002) Soros: The Life and Times of a Messianic Billionaire, First Vintage Books Edition, Published by Random House, New York, New York, pg. 257
Today Soros's Open Society Foundations supports freedom and democracy initiatives in over 100 countries around the world. The efforts of Soros's foundations have often faced major political opposition and harsh criticism in many of these countries.
Controversial views on Israel In respect to his views on Israel, in an article in The New Yorker, Soros stated: "I don't deny the Jews to a right to a national existence – but I don't want anything to do with it." As observed by Kaufman, Soros's views on Israel may reflect his concern for the political and human rights of Palestinians and his frequent support of the rights of refugees, many Palestinians having become refugees on leaving their homes after Israeli independence in 1948. According to hacked emails found in 2016, Soros's Open Society Foundation has had a self-described objective of "challenging Israel's racist and anti-democratic policies" in international forums, in part by questioning Israel's reputation as a democracy, though it is not clear if Soros currently supports such a policy or what direct connection Soros had to any of the hacked emails., The Jerusalem Post, from Jewish Telegraphic Agency Soros has funded non-government organizations which have been actively critical of Israeli policies,A Soros Plan, a Marginalized Israel By Eli Lake, August 16, 2016, Bloomberg including groups that campaign for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. It is not clear if divestment of Israeli products and financial holdings is a policy Soros himself strongly favors, or if the policy should be more strongly attributed to some of the managers in his Open Society Foundations that gave such organizations relatively limited financial support.