Hedge fund tycoon George Soros, who on Sunday ceded control of his $25 billion empire to younger son Alexander Soros, has a net worth of $8.5 billion and is the world’s 249th wealthiest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
However, business magazine Forbes estimates the financier's net worth at $6.7 billion.
Mr Soros, 92, earned his fortune as the founder of Soros Fund Management. Founded in 1973, the company generated more than $30 billion in profit for investors over the decades.
Today, it is believed to manage about $45 billion in assets, wealth tracking website Celebrity Net Worth estimated.
Soros Fund Management is described as one of the most-profitable hedge funds in history, averaging a 20 per cent annual rate of return for investors for more than four decades, data showed.
It invests in public equity and fixed-income markets, foreign exchange, currency and commodity markets, as well as private equity and venture capital funds.
Mr Soros was born in Hungary. At 17, he left the country and put himself through the London School of Economics, working as a railway porter and waiter, according to Forbes.
He eventually moved to the US, where he began his journey in finance and investments, a career move that paved the way to his future as a financier.
In 1992, Mr Soros shorted the British pound, helping to force the currency out of the exchange-rate system that preceded the euro.
He reportedly made a profit of $1 billion as the currency crashed in what became known as Black Wednesday. He became known as the man who broke the Bank of England.
Meanwhile, Mr Soros used his wealth amassed as a financier in the 1970s and 80s to create the Open Society Foundations, an organisation that supports a broad range of causes and non-profits worldwide, ranging from good governance and democracy-building programmes to liberal public policy initiatives.
Most of his company’s assets belong to the OSF, rather than the Soros family.
Since 1984, Mr Soros has donated more than $32 billion of his personal wealth to the Open Society Foundations, Celebrity Net Worth estimated.
He personally donated $500 million to help the Syrian refugee crisis.
The non-profit organisation has distributed about $15 billion to various charities to date. It is active in more than 120 countries around the world and funnels about $1.5 billion annually to groups such as those that back human rights and promote the growth of democracies around the world, according to its website.
He has also been one of the biggest Democratic Party donors in the US and poured $125 million into a super political action committee before the 2022 midterm elections, Forbes said.
Referring to the succession, the billionaire investor told the Wall Street Journal that his son Alex, 37, the second youngest of five children, had “earned it”.
Alex told WSJ that he was “more political” than his father but he noted that the two “think alike”. He aims to keep using the family’s wealth to back left-leaning US politicians.
In December, the OSF board elected Alex as its chairman, succeeding his father.
World's top 10 wealthiest cities – in pictures
The Journal reported that the younger Soros is the only family member on the investment committee overseeing Soros Fund Management, which manages money for the foundation and the family.
During the interview, Alex expressed concern that former US president Donald Trump would return to the White House and hinted that the Soros organisation would play a key financial role in the 2024 presidential race.
“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,” he said.
Alex is the oldest of two sons from George Soros’s marriage with his second wife, Susan Weber.
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
SPECS
Engine: 4-litre V8 twin-turbo
Power: 630hp
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: 8-speed Tiptronic automatic
Price: From Dh599,000
On sale: Now
Zimbabwe v UAE, ODI series
All matches at the Harare Sports Club
- 1st ODI, Wednesday, April 10
- 2nd ODI, Friday, April 12
- 3rd ODI, Sunday, April 14
- 4th ODI, Sunday, April 16
Squads:
- UAE: Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
- Zimbabwe: Peter Moor (captain), Solomon Mire, Brian Chari, Regis Chakabva, Sean Williams, Timycen Maruma, Sikandar Raza, Donald Tiripano, Kyle Jarvis, Tendai Chatara, Chris Mpofu, Craig Ervine, Brandon Mavuta, Ainsley Ndlovu, Tony Munyonga, Elton Chigumbura
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'Young girls thinking of big ideas'
Words come easy for aspiring writer Afra Al Muhairb. The business side of books, on the other hand, is entirely foreign to the 16-year-old Emirati. So, she followed her father’s advice and enroled in the Abu Dhabi Education Council’s summer entrepreneurship course at Abu Dhabi University hoping to pick up a few new skills.
“Most of us have this dream of opening a business,” said Afra, referring to her peers are “young girls thinking of big ideas.”
In the three-week class, pupils are challenged to come up with a business and develop an operational and marketing plan to support their idea. But, the learning goes far beyond sales and branding, said teacher Sonia Elhaj.
“It’s not only about starting up a business, it’s all the meta skills that goes with it -- building self confidence, communication,” said Ms Elhaj. “It’s a way to coach them and to harness ideas and to allow them to be creative. They are really hungry to do this and be heard. They are so happy to be actually doing something, to be engaged in creating something new, not only sitting and listening and getting new information and new knowledge. Now they are applying that knowledge.”
Afra’s team decided to focus their business idea on a restaurant modelled after the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Each level would have a different international cuisine and all the meat would be halal. The pupils thought of this after discussing a common problem they face when travelling abroad.
“Sometimes we find the struggle of finding halal food, so we just eat fish and cheese, so it’s hard for us to spend 20 days with fish and cheese,” said Afra. “So we made this tower so every person who comes – from Africa, from America – they will find the right food to eat.”
rpennington@thenational.ae
Company profile
Name: Tharb
Started: December 2016
Founder: Eisa Alsubousi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: Luxury leather goods
Initial investment: Dh150,000 from personal savings
BEACH SOCCER WORLD CUP
Group A
Paraguay
Japan
Switzerland
USA
Group B
Uruguay
Mexico
Italy
Tahiti
Group C
Belarus
UAE
Senegal
Russia
Group D
Brazil
Oman
Portugal
Nigeria
Company: Instabug
Founded: 2013
Based: Egypt, Cairo
Sector: IT
Employees: 100
Stage: Series A
Investors: Flat6Labs, Accel, Y Combinator and angel investors
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
Try out the test yourself
Q1 Suppose you had $100 in a savings account and the interest rate was 2 per cent per year. After five years, how much do you think you would have in the account if you left the money to grow?
a) More than $102
b) Exactly $102
c) Less than $102
d) Do not know
e) Refuse to answer
Q2 Imagine that the interest rate on your savings account was 1 per cent per year and inflation was 2 per cent per year. After one year, how much would you be able to buy with the money in this account?
a) More than today
b) Exactly the same as today
c) Less than today
d) Do not know
e) Refuse to answer
Q4 Do you think that the following statement is true or false? “Buying a single company stock usually provides a safer return than a stock mutual fund.”
a) True
b) False
d) Do not know
e) Refuse to answer
The “Big Three” financial literacy questions were created by Professors Annamaria Lusardi of the George Washington School of Business and Olivia Mitchell, of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Answers: Q1 More than $102 (compound interest). Q2 Less than today (inflation). Q3 False (diversification).
