Born: Schwartz György August 12, 1930 (age 83)
Budapest, Hungary
Citizenship: Hungary, United States
Alma mater: London School of Economics
Occupation: Chairman of Soros Fund Management
Chairman of the Open Society Foundations
Founder and adviser of the Quantum Fund
Employer: Soros Fund Management
Open Society Foundations
Net worth: US$23 billion (December 5, 2013)
AKA: The Man who broke the bank of England
Political Philosophy: Progressive/Liberal
Mr. Soros is an American/Hungarian Billionaire who has made his money through currency speculation, knowingly on two different occasions has bet big against currencies which in turned caused currency crisis. The first time was September 16, 1992 in which his short sale of the English pound caused black Wednesday, which devalued the English pound and the second time was the short sale of ASEAN south pacific currencies resulting in “…the nominal U.S. dollar GDP of the ASEAN fell by $9.2 billion in 1997 and $218.2 billion (31.7%) in 1998” ("Wikipedia", 2014). “"[N]obody who has read a business magazine in the last few years can be unaware that these days there really are investors who not only move money in anticipation of a currency crisis, but actually do their best to trigger that crisis for fun and profit. These new actors on the scene do not yet have a standard name; my proposed term is 'Soroi'. (Economist, Paul Krugman).
It is difficult to believe a man who is willing to topple national currencies for his own benefit gives to political agents out of the goodness of his heart. George Soros is a major player in the DNC and is funding many candidates through other organizations such as the Center for American progress ($3 million), Moveon.org (2.5 million) and America coming together ($20 million) in the 2004 election. All of these groups support Democrats and progressives John Kerry being the DNC candidate that year and now secretary of state under the most notoriously progressive President since Woodrow Wilson.
George Soros works under the Financial philosophy of Reflexivity, which works under the following conditions;
1. Reflexivity is best observed under special conditions where investor bias grows and spreads throughout the investment arena. Examples of factors that may give rise to this bias include (a) equity leveraging or (b) the trend-following habits of speculators.
2. Reflexivity appears intermittently since it is most likely to be revealed under certain conditions; i.e., the character of the equilibrium process is best considered in terms of probabilities.
3. Investors' observation of and participation in the capital markets may at times influence valuations and fundamental conditions or outcomes.
In easier terms one can manipulate a market to ones own ends with enough financial clout.
"Most of all, George believed even then in a mixed economy, one with a strong central international government to correct for the excesses of self-interest." (Victor Niederhoffer). Victor Niederhoffer is a hedge fund manager, bestselling author and statistician. This statement implies the ultimate goal of a strong federal government that is control of all aspects of our lives through the control of the economy. This is a very socialist idea, which usually ends with the suffering at the expense of the many for the benefit of a few. At 23 billion dollars and counting I am willing to bet that Mr. Soros plans on being one of the few.
Wikipedia. (2014). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Soros