Probably everyone has a role model. For some, it is a father or mother, for others famous person. As a rule, the person to follow is successful. But are all born successful people? Many pass through the obstacles of poverty and disappointment to their success. In this article, I would like to talk about one of the most successful financiers in the world. It is George Soros.
Childhood and youth
George Soros was born in Budapest. His real name was György Schwartz. The futures trader was born into a middle-class family. His father was a lawyer. He also kept a magazine.
His mother, Elizabeth, had a positive view of the world and introduced her son to art. Most of all he loved painting and drawing. In addition, he studied foreign languages very successfully. The boy was also fond of sailing, swimming, and tennis, and from an early age always beat his friends at Monopoly.
Classmates recalled that in school the future financier behaved boldly and defiantly, and loved to participate in fights. At the same time, he had an excellent tongue, and what he believed in, Schwartz defended at all costs. Györgyi’s grades were average, alternating between excelling and failing. Unfortunately, at that time, he did not have the opportunity to contact the do my paper service to solve his academic difficulties. He had to do the assignments on his own.
The boy was less than ten years old when the cruel and merciless Second World War began. The Schwartz family’s way of life became one of constant hiding. For weeks they hid in cellars or, at best, in the basements and attics of the homes of acquaintances who agreed to shelter them for a few days.
In 1936, fearing persecution by the Nazis for their nationality, the family changed their Jewish surname from Schwartz to the more Hungarian Soros.
In the fall of 1945, when the danger had finally passed, George returned to school. But the boy dreamed of going to the West, of leaving his native Hungary. He began this plan when he was 17 years old, all alone. However, the future philanthropist was helped financially by his father and his aunt, who had moved to Florida.
At first, George Soros was in Bern, Switzerland, then he went to London. There he periodically found ways to earn a living: he worked as a waiter in a restaurant, picked apples on the farm, and learned the profession of a house painter. And in 1949 he entered the London School of Economics, graduating in an accelerated format for two years. The student spent another year formally listed as a student of the school and did not receive his diploma until 1953.
The economics school diploma did not guarantee George a job, and he again had to make do with odd jobs. Already in his youth, the future billionaire realized that to get a large income he needed to join the investment business. His first job in finance was as an intern at Singer & Friedlander Bank. And in 1956, the budding investor realized it was time to move to New York.
Business
George began his career in New York by buying securities in one country and selling them in another (called international arbitrage). When in 1963 an additional fee was introduced in the U.S. on foreign investments, the financier considered this business not profitable enough and closed it.
A few years later, Soros worked as a head of research at Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder brokerage company, and in a couple of years, he was appointed a managing director of Double Eagle fund, which was founded by this company.
In 1973, the broker left his employers and created his fund called Quantum. A junior partner in the venture was Jim Rogers, and the assets of Double Eagle investors were used as the basis for organizing the fund.
Quantum specialized in speculation in currency, securities, and commodities. By the end of the 1980s, George’s fortune had already exceeded $100 million. Over a long time, the Soros and Rogers fund were successful, but it also had bad periods. For example, during the “Black Monday” in 1987, when one of the largest stock market crashes in the history of mankind occurred, the traders were ordered to close all stock market transactions. Before this decision, annual profits had been as high as 60%, but after that Quantum not only lost profitability but also went into negative territory: its annual loss was 10%.
Soon Soros decided to involve the well-known asset manager Stanley Druckenmiller in the work of the fund, with the help of which the financier managed to increase his fortune even more. Stanley worked at Quantum until 2000.
An important date for George was Black Wednesday, September 16, 1992, when there was a collapse of the pound sterling. The businessman made over $1 billion, with Soros often cited as one of the perpetrators of that collapse.
As he grew older, the financier became less interested in investing and trading and spent more time on charity. In 2011 he announced that his investment fund stops its work. Since then, Soros has been engaged in financial operations only to increase his capital and the well-being of his family.
George Soros’ Open Society Foundations were founded in 1979. Open Society Foundations have established offices in more than 120 countries around the world. One of them, the Soviet-American Fund “Cultural Initiative” worked in the USSR as well. It was formed to support culture, science, and education, but was closed due to the high level of corruption.
In 2018, George was extremely skeptical of bitcoin and called it a “typical financial bubble.” But as of 2021, Soros Fund Management began trading cryptocurrencies.
Public reaction
Soros’ activity was assessed ambiguously in different countries. For the financier acquired a reputation as an unscrupulous speculator and head of the globalists who undermined the foundations of Christian religion and society, as well as the head of the “global Jewish conspiracy. In many European countries, the financier is suspected of wanting to destroy the Western world with a flood of migrants.
In February 2022 the American billionaire delivered a lecture at Stanford University in which he made his predictions about the change of government and political regime in China at the approaching 20th Congress of the CPC. According to the media, Soros stopped investing in the Chinese economy due to increased government control over the private sector.
In 2022 the fortune of George Soros was estimated at $ 8.6 billion. Some investors believe that he has an incredible gift of financial foresight, others see the reasons for his success in the use of secret insider information.
