George Soros hands over leadership of OSF to his son

George Soros, one of the world’s most famous investors and philanthropists, has handed over leadership of his billion-dollar foundation to his son Alex Soros.

The appointment as chairman of the Open Society Foundations (OSF), which was done quietly in December, puts Alex Soros at the head of one of the wealthiest global philanthropic foundations.

Alex Soros told the Financial Times through a spokesman, “We are going to defend voting rights and individual liberties at home and support the cause of democracy abroad.”

His comments signal a more prominent role for the 37-year-old as US political parties gear up for the 2024 presidential election. George Soros has been one of the largest donors to Democratic candidates in American politics.

In his first interview since taking on the role, Alex Soros told The Wall Street Journal on Sunday that he is “more political” than his father. He told the newspaper, “As much as I’d love to get money out of politics, as long as the other side is doing it, we have to do it too.”

A source close to the family said Soros’ priorities in American politics would remain unchanged with Alex’s appointment. The foundation will be headed by Alex, who this week tweeted her photo with US Vice President Kamala Harris, a possible target of right-wing groups and politicians attacking her father.

in an opinion piece for cnn this month, Alex praised the Biden administration’s move to fight antisemitism and condemned the attacks on his father by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Elon Musk. He reprimanded Trump for “dog-whistling language” in a campaign ad featuring George Soros.

The 92-year-old made his fortune as a prominent hedge fund investor, including his famous 1992 bet against the value of the British pound, on which he made a profit of over $1 billion.

Alex, a child from George’s second marriage to Susan Weber, studied history at New York University and earned a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley.

While she has occasionally received media attention for her celebrity connections, she has also focused on her own philanthropic initiatives such as progressive Jewish organizations, environmental causes, and helping domestic workers in America.

He became his father’s deputy as chairman of OSF in 2017. Alex Soros also sits on the investment committee for the foundation, which oversees fund management. OSF accounts for the majority of SFM’s $25bn AUM.

OSF received $18bn from George Soros in 2018 and is expected to benefit from the bulk of his remaining wealth, estimated by Forbes at around $7bn. The foundation, which will spend $1.5bn in 2021, supports a range of causes, including “activists documenting war crimes” most recently during the war in Ukraine, according to the organisation.

Alex has traveled extensively as part of his work, taking an interest in international issues from Ukraine to the Western Balkans, South Asia and the Congo. “With my background, there are many ways I could have gone astray. Instead I became a workaholic, and my life is my work,” Soros said.