Who is George Soros? A brief profile of the billionaire investor

New Delhi [India], February 17 : Billionaire investor George Soros has given away more than USD 32 billion of his personal fortune to fund the Open Society Foundations' work around the world, according to Georgesoros.com.
Under his leadership, the Open Society Foundations have supported individuals and organizations across the globe fighting for freedom of expression, accountable government, and societies that promote justice and equality, according to the website. The foundations have also provided school and university fees for thousands of promising students.
According to the website, Soros has experienced such intolerance firsthand. Born in Hungary in 1930, he lived through the Nazi occupation of 1944-1945, which resulted in the murder of over 500,000 Hungarian Jews. His own Jewish family survived by securing false identity papers, concealing their backgrounds, and helping others do the same, the website said.
As the Communists consolidated power in Hungary after the war, Soros left Budapest in 1947 for London, working part-time as a railway porter and as a night-club waiter to support his studies at the London School of Economics, it added. In 1956, he emigrated to the US, entering the world of finance and investments, where he was to make his fortune.
In 1973, Soros launched his own hedge fund, Soros Fund Management, and went on to become one of the most successful investors in the history of the US.
On Soros's Open Society Foundations, Abhijeet Iyyer Mitra, author at South Asian Voices and a journalist, tweeted on Friday, "Find every Indian citizen / OCI (Overseas Citizen Of India) / PIO (person of India, origin) / NGO (non-government organisation) funded by, or in any way associated with @OpenSociety and you'll find the vectors of regime change in India."
The journalist has said in his tweet: "Soros' comments on the impact of the Adani episode on elections show you how out of touch on India he is."
On George Soros, Lord Rami Ranger CBE, Baron of Mayfair, House of Lords, London, had said in an interview: "It's an attempt to seek world's attention. If you feel you are so clever, why don't you fight an election? He must not make any such comment on a country with a diverse culture. What PM Modi is doing, even 100 George Soros can't do."
On Hindenburg Research's report, Lord Rami Ranger said, "When you are rising and progressing, you attract jealousy and animosity. As India is rising and PM Modi is doing good and earning respect so it is obvious to get opposition. But, India is a robust economy and we are on the world's top."
Billionaire investor Geroge Soros on Thursday weighed in on the ongoing Adani-Hindenburg row, stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is "silent" on the issue and will have to "answer questions from foreign investors and in Parliament."
Soros in a speech on Thursday said that Gautam Adani is "accused of stock manipulation and his stock collapsed like a house of cards."
"Adani Enterprises tried to raise funds in the stock market but failed," Soros said.
Adani Group has been accused by US short-seller Hindenburg of engaging in "brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud" over decades, a claim that Adani Group has stoutly denied.
Terming Modi and Adani as "close allies," whose "fate is intertwined", the 92-year-old billionaire investor said, "This will significantly weaken Modi's stranglehold on India's federal government and open the door to push for much-needed institutional reforms."
"I may be naive, but I expect a democratic revival in India," Soros said in his remarks delivered at the 2023 Munich Security Conference.
The US-based short-seller, in its report on January 24, raised concerns about shares of Adani group companies having a possibility of declining from their current levels owing to high valuations, "brazen stock manipulation", and "accounting fraud", among others.
After the report came out, share prices of companies in the Adani Group dropped significantly.
The continued sell-offs in the group's stocks led its flagship firm, Adani Enterprises Limited, to cancel a fully subscribed Rs 20,000 crore follow-on public offer.