George Soros
Survived the Nazi occupation of Budapest at 13; arrived in London working as a railway porter.
- Born
- 1930 · Budapest, Hungary
- Roots
- Hungarian Jewish; emigrated to the UK at 17, later the US
- Family
- Middle class
- Lawyer father; a comfortable household upended by war and occupation.
- Education
- London School of Economics (philosophy, under Karl Popper)
- Started with
- $4M fund
- Launched the Double Eagle fund in 1969, including $250K of his own.
- Affiliations & societies
- None documented.
- Information only — claims like these are often unverifiable and may be wrong.
The pathway
- 1944 · age 13Survives the Nazi occupation
Lives under false identity papers his father arranged.
- 1947 · age 17Emigrates to London
Works as a railway porter and waiter while studying at the LSE.
- 1956 · age 26New York
Starts as an arbitrage trader.
- 1969 · age 39Double Eagle fund$4M
The fund that becomes Quantum.
- 1992 · age 62Shorts the pound~$1B
Reported ~$1B profit as sterling leaves the European exchange-rate mechanism.
- 2017 · age 87Transfers $18B to Open Society$18B
Lifetime giving to his foundations exceeds $32B.
Sources
Compiled from these references and contemporaneous press reporting. Figures are approximate; verify before relying on them.