The "Alchemy of Finance" contains one of the most arrogant confessions I've ever seen in print, as well as some fascinating insights into how Soros used the misconceptions of economists, finance theorists, and traders who relied on them, to make his pile. Below two bios: "unauthorized" and "authorized" to provide some perspective.
George Soros
http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/business/george-soros/ * Hungarian businessman. Jewish; original family name is Schwartz.
* Net worth estimated at $11B.
* A man of enormous wealth and ability to deploy it in unexpected ways.
* Partner in the Carlyle Group.
* Was the owner of Harken Energy, and bought its declining shares so that George W Bush could make a million dollars. His reason to do that: "political influence."
* As currency speculator, cost the UK a billion dollars in one day.
* Hated by Lyndon LaRouche.
* Member, Council on Foreign Relations.
Timeline
12 Aug 1930 George Soros born, Budapest Hungary.
1944 Hides for a year from the Nazis, after they invade Hungary.
1947 Leaves Hungary for Britain to attend London School of Economics.
1956 Moves to United States.
1969 Establishes Quantum Fund, and dabbles in currency manipulation. Average return of that fund is an astonishing 35% per year, since its inception.
1979 Establishes Open Society Fund, New York City.
16 Sep 1992 In a brazen act of currency speculation, places a hedge bet that the UK will devalue the Pound Sterling. In September this nets him $1B in a single day.
1995 Appointed director, Council on Foreign Relations.
1997 Attacks the currencies of Thailand and Malaysia. A Thai source said: "We regard George Soros as a kind of Dracula. He sucks blood from the people." [Heather Coffin, Covert Action Quarterly.]
2002 Convicted of insider trading, with regards to the stock of a French bank in 1988. Fined $2M.
Nov 2002 Soros is the primary sponsor of Nevada's ballot initiative to legalize marijuana.
12 Sep 2003 "If you impose morality on [business], it means that you are actually with your hands tied behind your back and you're not going to be successful. It's extremely hard to be successful." Interview, David Brancaccio, Now with Bill Moyers.
7 Nov 2003 Moscow offices of the Soros Foundation stormed by forty armed men who seize papers and seal the building, after Soros criticized the recent jailing of one of Russia's oligarchs, Mikhail Khodorkovsky of oil company Yukos. The building's owner claims rent was not being paid, an unlikely explanation.
http://www.soros.org/about/bios/a_soros George Soros
Founder and Chairman
George Soros was born in Budapest, Hungary on August 12, 1930. He survived the Nazi occupation of Budapest and left communist Hungary in 1947 for England, where he graduated from the London School of Economics (LSE). While a student at LSE, Soros became familiar with the work of the philosopher Karl Popper, who had a profound influence on his thinking and later on his professional and philanthropic activities.
The financier. In 1956, Soros moved to the United States, where he began to accumulate a large fortune through an international investment fund he founded and managed. Today he is chairman of Soros Fund Management LLC.
The philanthropist. Soros has been active as a philanthropist since 1979, when he began providing funds to help black students attend the University of Cape Town in apartheid South Africa. Today he is chairman of the Open Society Institute (OSI) and the founder of a network of philanthropic organizations that are active in more than 50 countries. Based primarily in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union—but also in Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the United States—these foundations are dedicated to building and maintaining the infrastructure and institutions of an open society. They work closely with OSI to develop and implement a range of programs focusing on civil society, education, media, public health, and human rights as well as social, legal, and economic reform. In recent years, OSI and the Soros foundations network have spent more than $400 million annually to support projects in these and other focus areas. In 1992, Soros founded Central European University, with its primary campus in Budapest.
The philosopher. Soros is the author of eight books, including the forthcoming The Bubble of America Supremacy (PublicAffairs, January 2004). His other books include George Soros on Globalization (2002); The Alchemy of Finance (1987); Opening the Soviet System (1990); Underwriting Democracy (1991); Soros on Soros: Staying Ahead of the Curve (1995); The Crisis of Global Capitalism: Open Society Endangered (1998); and Open Society: Reforming Global Capitalism (2000). His articles and essays on politics, society, and economics regularly appear in major newspapers and magazines around the world.
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"1997 Attacks the currencies of Thailand and Malaysia. A Thai source said: "We regard George Soros as a kind of Dracula. He sucks blood from the people." [Heather Coffin, Covert Action Quarterly.]"
I live several months of the year in Malaysia. The businessmen consider Soros as a Satan. He is not allowed to enter Malaysia. He hurt them badly in 97.