George Soros transfers $18 billion to his liberal philanthropic foundation
Business magnate George Soros
transferred $18 billion of his own money to his own charity organization
Tuesday.
(Reuters)
Uber-liberal billionaire George Soros
infused “the bulk of his wealth” -- $18 billion -- into his activist
charity arm Tuesday, making the philanthropic organization second only
to Bill and Melinda Gates' Foundation in U.S. assets and further
extending and strengthening Soros' tentacles worldwide.
It's unclear what Soros' group will
use the billions of dollars toward. He recently posted on his Twitter
page articles about the Open Society Foundations' work in countries
including Albania and Macedonia.
But the Hungarian-born heavyweight has spent years investing money to support fiercely liberal, partisan causes in the U.S. and throughout the world.
Soros, 87, has used his stash of money to place his stamp and influence on more than 100 organizations in more than 100 countries, spanning five continents. He's pumped money into Planned Parenthood and the Black Lives Matter movement and contributed $1.4 million to help pass a California law that would make drug possession and minor theft charges misdemeanors.
He started donating money in 1979, however, his form of philanthropy hasn't always gone smoothly.
In Europe, the billionaire’s influence has sparked dozens of protests for Soros' alleged meddling in politics. The Hungarian parliament even passed legislation in April that would allow them to shut down the university Soros founded in Budapest. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban accused Soros of being a political puppet master” that “ruined the lives of tens of millions of people.” In return, Soros called the country’s government a “mafia state,” the Guardian reported.
In Romania, Soros was accused of financing “evil” as leaders launched a campaign against the businessman's interests, the New York Times reported. Campaigns against Soros also erupted in Macedonia, Serbia and Slovakia, some of which have escalated since President Trump was elected in November.
Activists remove a government billboard displaying George Soros
in monochrome next to a message urging Hungarians to take part in a
national consultation about what it calls a plan by the Hungarian-born
financier to settle a million migrants in Europe per year.
(Reuters)
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Soros is expected to transfer another $2 billion to his foundation in the years ahead, The New York Times reported.
The $18 million transfer makes Soros’ organization one of the largest philanthropic nonprofits in the world, the Wall Street Journal reported. The funds amounted to more than three-quarters of Soros’ fortune. His net worth is $23 billion, according to Forbes.