US billionaire and philanthropist George Soros has handed over the reins of his 25 billion empire to his son Alex, writes the BBC.
The Hungarian-born billionaire told the Wall Street Journal that his son has earned his new responsibilities. Soros’ representative confirmed this information on Sunday, the 11th of June.
Soros is one of the most generous supporters of US Democrats. His 37-year-old son Alex is the second youngest of the billionaire’s five children, and the only one of Soros’ offspring to serve on the board of the family foundation.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Soros has 25 billion dollars in funds.
Alex took up the chair of Open Society Foundations (OSF) in December and also manages the channeling of funds to political parties. He has indicated that he wants to get more involved in politics and will oppose Trump’s repeated candidacy for the position of US president:
“As much as I would love to get money out of politics, as long as the other side is doing it, we will have to do it, too.”
George Soros was born in Hungary and his family hid their ethnic origins to survive. After the war, Soros moved to London and then to New York, where he made billions with hedge funds.
When the Berlin Wall fell, the opportunity to build democratic movements in the former socialist countries arose, and Soros founded the OSF to support this process. Currently, the foundation devotes around 1.5 billion dollars annually to support liberal, educational, and human rights organizations in 120 countries.
Some forms of support have enraged the political right-wing, especially pointing out to racial bias in US politics.
In 2018, the OSF moved its central office from Budapest to Berlin. At that time, the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbáns, targeted both Soros personally and his organizations.