George Soros And His Philosophy
George Soros is a man of great recognition. He has made a name for himself internationally, and his line of work is very diverse, with many fields of expertise. George Soros is one of the world’s preeminent philanthropists, he has given away over $12 billion to date to a lot of charitable organizations. George Soros was born in Budapest in 1930, and he is also the chair of Soros Fund Management LLC. Being a very successful financier, his views on investing and economic issues are highly regarded. He is also considered to be a very noble man, given that his funding has “supported organizations all over the world fighting for freedom of expression, transparency, accountable government, and societies that promote justice and equality. ” (Soros. com, 2018)
His charitable works are often in line with those who face discrimination, as he greatly believes in an equal society for all races. George Soros has lived through the Nazi occupation being a Jewish family by securing false identity papers that concealed their backgrounds. Soros recalls that, “instead of submitting to ur fate, we resisted an evil force that was much stronger than we were — yet we prevailed. Not only did we survive, but we managed to help others. ” (Soros. com, 2018) This proves that George Soros has always been the noble man, he was selfless and he has never failed to express concern for others, especially the less fortunate.
In the year 1956, he emigrated to the United States, entering the world of finance and investments, where he greatly succeeded and ultimately made his fortune. In 1973, he founded his own hedge fund, Soros Fund Management, which flourished with annual average returns of more than 30% per year. In addition, on two separate occasions, Soros’ fund posted gains of more than 100%. (Soros. com, 2018) He became one of the United States’ foremost investors, and by then, he has truly made a name for himself already which made him highly recognized all over the world. Upon his success, he began his philanthropy in 1979 which started with giving scholarships to black South Africans under apartheid. He also promoted the open and uncensored exchange of ideas in the Communist Eastern Bloc by providing photocopiers to reprint banned texts. He did not allow any form of inequality to prevail, and he combatted against this at all costs. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall, he also created the Central European University to foster critical thinking, which was very unusual in former Soviet states. (Soros. com, 2018)
Around the 1980s, George Soros became one of the richest people on the planet, and his priorities were more focused on his philanthropic efforts, which eventually lead him to create his own organization, the Open Society Foundation. In terms of dedication, he became more committed in solving global issues than taking complete control over his hedge fund. In addition, he became active in the political environment by expressing his views on world affairs, human rights, political freedom, and education, through his speeches and written works.
Among his many recognitions, he became a vocal backer of same-sex marriage efforts and on the war on drugs. Those were one of his causes that formed his ideals of an open society. His foundation “worked to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable and open to the participation of all people. ” (Open Society Foundation, 2018) George Soros has not only been working within his foundation, but he also reached out to independent organizations that envision the same goals as him. Throughout his philanthropic life, George Soros has always focused on fighting the world’s demanding problems, and engaging in finding solutions for problems that might seem like a lost cause. He has always shown persistence in his attainment of an open society, to which I will discuss further on in this paper. Soros once wrote, “My success in the financial markets has given men a greater degree of independence than most other people. This allows me to take a stand on controversial issues, in fact it obliges me to so. ” Soros used this influential power not only to his advantage, but rather to the advantage of the world. He used this as means to create a society that is more open, more just, and more equitable for all races, destroying the sense of superiority of some races. (Reif, 2018)
In terms of his investment philosophy, George Soros capitalizes on the human emotional capacity of market influencers to alter investment decisions. He relied solely on his instincts when it required of him to make decisions on buying and selling, which is also why people admired him because more often than not, he would be correct. His biggest breakthrough was when he shorted the British pound and made a profit of $1 billion, hence his title of “the man who broke the Bank of England”. Through this, he made it clear that his strategy was his alone, and it would be difficult for others to imitate such technique. (Reif, 2018)
On his Open Society Foundation, as mentioned, it aims to build a democracy in which the government is responsible for the equal participation of all people. The implementation of justice, education, and public health has become an imperative for this foundation, and it is also used as means in building a union between the borders of the world in the hopes of protecting and improving the lives of people in marginalized communities. (Open Society Foundation, 2018)
