Washington: US billionaire philanthropist George Soros has handed over the reins of his $25 billion financial and charitable empire to his son Alex, saying the latter had “earned it”, the media reported.
Alex, a 37-year-old who studied history at New York University and earned a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, is the second-youngest of the 92-year-old Hungarian-born financier’s five children, reports the BBC.
Alex is the only family member sitting on the investment committee for Soros Fund Management, which according to The Wall Street Journal says is managing the $25 billion for the family and the charitable foundation.
He took over at the Open Society Foundations (OSF) as chairman in December 2022 and is also in charge of his father’s “super PAC” — a US mechanism to direct funds to political parties.
In an interview to The Wall Street Journal, George Soros, whose personal fortune is valued at $6.7 billion, said his son had “earned it”.
George Soros is also one of the largest donors to the Democratic Party, and Alex while speaking to the Journal, said he was “more political” than his father and that he would campaign against Donald Trump’s attempt to run for a second term as US President, the BBC reported.
“We are going to double down on defending voting rights and personal freedom at home and supporting the cause of democracy abroad,” said Alexander.
“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 the Open Society Foundations would pursue the same aims it had under his father including free speech, criminal justice reform, minority and refugee rights and backing liberal politicians.
But he also wants to include voting rights, abortion and gender equity initiatives while pursuing a more domestic US-focused agenda.
“With my background, there are a lot of ways I could have gone astray,” the Guardian quoted Alex as saying to The Journal.
“Instead I became a workaholic, and my life is my work.”
George Soros has married three times and has five children: Alex, Andrea, Gregory, Robert and Jonathan.
IANS