gsoros

George Soros was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1930. In 1947 he emigrated to England where he graduated from the London School of Economics. While a student there, Mr. Soros became familiar with the work of the philosopher Karl Popper who had a profound influence on his thinking and later on his philanthropic activities. In 1956 he moved to the United States, where he began to accumulate a large fortune through an international investment fund he founded and managed.

Mr. Soros established his first foundation, the Open Society Fund, in New York in 1979 and his first East European foundation in Hungary in 1984.

He now funds a network of foundations that operate in 31 countries throughout Central and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and Central Eurasia, as well as in Southern Africa, Haiti, Guatemala and the US. These foundations are dedicated to building and maintaining the infrastructure and institutions of an open society. Soros has also founded other major institutions, such as the Central European University and the International Science Foundation. In 1994, the foundations in the network spent approximately $300 million; in 1995, $350 million; and in 1996, $362 million. Giving for 1997 is expected to be maintained at a similar level.

In addition to many articles on the political and economic changes in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, Mr. Soros is the author of The Alchemy of Finance (1987), Opening the Soviet System (1990) and Underwriting Democracy (1991). Mr. Soros's most recent book, Soros on Soros: Staying ahead of the Curve, was published in 1995.

Mr. Soros has received honorary doctoral degrees from the New School for Social Research, the University of Oxford, the Budapest University of Economics and Yale University. In 1995, the University of Bologna awarded Mr. Soros its highest honor, the Laurea Honoris Causa, in recognition of his efforts to promote open societies throughout the world.

Mr. Soros is Chairman of Soros Fund Management LCC, a private investment management firm that serves as principal investment advisor to the Quantum Group of Funds. The Quantum Fund N.V., the oldest and largest fund within the Quantum Group, is generally recognized as having the best performance record of any investment fund in the world in its 28-year history.