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George Soros Transfers Billions to Open Society Foundations George Soros Transfers Billions to Open Society Foundations
(about 3 hours later)
George Soros, the billionaire hedge fund manager and Democratic political donor, has given the bulk of his wealth to the Open Society Foundations, the philanthropy he founded to promote democracy and human rights around the world, foundation officials said Tuesday. George Soros, the billionaire hedge fund manager and a major Democratic donor, has given $18 billion to his Open Society Foundations, one of the largest transfers of wealth ever made by a private donor to a single foundation.
In recent years Mr. Soros has moved about $18 billion of his own money into Open Society, making it the second largest foundation in the United States by assets, according to the National Philanthropic Trust. The gift, made quietly over the past several years but only disclosed on Tuesday, has transformed Open Society into the second-biggest philanthropic organization in the United States, behind the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It will also place Mr. Soros, a lightning rod for conservative critics, squarely in the middle of the social and political debates convulsing the country.
The only larger charity is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has an endowment worth some $40 billion and focuses on global health and development issues. The news was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. Founded by Mr. Soros more than 30 years ago, Open Society promotes democracy and human rights in more than 120 countries. In recent years, the organization has increased its attention on the United States, investing in programs to protect gays and lesbians and reduce abuses by the police.
The foundations have funded treatment centers during the Ebola outbreak in 2014 and, more recently, efforts to protect people in the United States targeted during “a national wave of hate incidents following the 2016 election,” the organization said. The organization funded treatment centers during the 2014 Ebola outbreak, a center for Roma art and culture, and efforts to protect people in the United States from what it described as “a national wave of hate incidents” after the 2016 election. After that spike in hate crimes, Mr. Soros, 87, committed $10 million to preventing such violence.
Though a great fortune will now be at the disposal of Open Society, there are several ways in which not much will change. “We must do something to push back against what’s happening here,” Mr. Soros said in November, lamenting what he called the “dark forces that have been awakened” by the election.
The foundation said it did not plan to increase its grant-making activity anytime soon, or to dramatically expand its programming. His political focus — coupled with large donations to Hillary Clinton and other Democratic politicians — have made Mr. Soros a target of criticism from both the Republican establishment and fringe elements of the far right. The conservative website Breitbart, for example, has accused Mr. Soros of attempting to make Ireland a “pro-abortion country” and undermining the control of European countries over their borders.
And Mr. Soros’s fortune will still be managed by familiar hands. Open Society invests its endowment with Soros Fund Management, the billionaire’s family office. “Given America’s place in the world right now, I think he’s making an enormous statement,” said Eileen Heisman, chief executive of the National Philanthropic Trust, a nonprofit that works with foundations. “He has a very clear point of view and he’s not trying to hide it.”
The Open Society Foundations is less a single entity than a network of interconnected operations. The first foundation opened in 1984 in Hungary, where Mr. Soros was born. The most recent foundation opened last year in Myanmar. Patrick Gaspard, the vice president of the Open Society Foundations, who will take over as president at the end of the year, said the election of President Trump had given the organization’s work a new sense of urgency.
At times, the foundations’ efforts have grated with local governments. The government of Hungary has clashed with a university Mr. Soros founded there. And Mr. Soros, a major donor to Democrats including Hillary Clinton, has become a frequent target of right-leaning critics. Mr. Gaspard specifically cited Mr. Trump’s commission on voter fraud, a panel that has faced much criticism from Democrats and which Mr. Gaspard said “utterly lacks integrity.” “Our work on equal access and protection is more vital than it’s ever been,” he said.
To date, Mr. Soros has funded the group through annual donations of around $800 million or $900 million. Mr. Soros’s philanthropy is rooted in his past.
Open Society’s name is drawn from the title of a book by the philosopher Karl Popper, “Open Society and Its Enemies,” in which he argues for democratic governance, free expression and respect for individual rights. He lived in Nazi-occupied Hungary as a boy. With Budapest under Communist rule in 1947, he left for London and then the United States, where he found success on Wall Street.
Born in 1930, Mr. Soros lived under Nazi occupation in Hungary. With Budapest under Communist rule in 1947, he left for London and then the United States, where he found success on Wall Street. In 1992, Mr. Soros made a $1 billion bet against the British pound, a trade that famously earned him the nickname “the man who broke the Bank of England” when his aggressive selling of the currency pushed the government to devalue the pound.
In 1992 Mr. Soros made a $1 billion bet against the British pound, a trade that “broke the Bank of England,” when his aggressive selling of the currency pushed the government to devalue the pound. As his fortune grew, Mr. Soros began funding efforts to promote democracy and human rights, establishing the first Open Society foundation in Hungary in 1984. Mr. Soros took the name from a book by the philosopher Karl Popper, “Open Society and Its Enemies,” in which he argued for democratic governance, free expression and respect for individual rights.
Mr. Soros, 87, has continued to play the markets long after he stepped away from day-to-day management of his entire portfolio. Last year he wagered on Britain’s vote to leave the European Union and profited when shares of Deutsche Bank fell. “He lived through Nazi Hungary,” Ms. Heisman said. “He knows what it’s like to live in a closed society.”
Not all his trades have been so successful. Also last year, he lost about $1 billion betting that Donald J. Trump would lose the presidential election. Mr. Soros eventually became one of the biggest donors to Democrats, including Mrs. Clinton. During the last election cycle, Mr. Soros gave millions of dollars to super PACs that opposed Mr. Trump and supported other Democratic candidates and causes. He also bet big in the markets that Mr. Trump would lose the election, a wager that cost him about $1 billion.
Mr. Soros recently shook up oversight of his family office. Earlier this year, Dawn Fitzpatrick took over as the chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management. For decades, Mr. Soros funded the Open Society Foundations through annual donations of around $800 million or $900 million per year. But beginning a few years ago, he increased his contributions as part of his estate planning, bringing the organization’s endowment to about $18 billion this year. The total donation figure was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Mr. Soros is expected to contribute at least another $2 billion in the coming years.
“There is no foundation in the world, including the Ford Foundation, that has had more impact around the world than the Open Society Foundations in the last two decades,” said Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation. “Because there is no part of the world that they have not been. Their footprint is deeper, wider and more impactful than any other social justice foundation in the world.”
Despite the infusion by Mr. Soros, the foundation said it did not plan to increase the amount that it hands out in grants or via programs in the near future. Open Society already spends about $900 million annually on programs and grants, more than it is legally required to.
And Mr. Soros’s fortune will still be managed by familiar hands. Soros Fund Management, the entity that manages the billionaire’s personal fortune, is also responsible for overseeing the Open Society endowment’s investments.
Mr. Soros remains closely involved in the foundation’s work.
“I talk to George constantly, regularly,” said Mr. Gaspard, the foundation’s incoming president. “George is incredibly engaged on these issues.”
This year, Mr. Soros has fended off attacks by the prime minister of Hungary, who has been displeased with a university that the Open Society Foundations funded there.
Mr. Gaspard said the public pressure did not bother the foundation’s leadership.
“Since its inception, the Open Society Foundations has worked with leaders in civil society, whether they are the Roma in Eastern Europe or African-Americans in Cleveland, Ohio, who continue to be subject to a second class form of justice,” he said.
Stacy Palmer, editor of the Chronicle of Philanthropy, said no matter how the billions are spent, the gift by Mr. Soros would keep him in the center of social and political debates for years to come.
“He has been so transparent about his views, so we know where he stands on these issues,” she said. “This is going to fuel as much happiness as it is controversy.”