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George Soros: the man who called Modi a 'great enemy' of free society

His comments against Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Davos have stirred a hornet’s nest in India. But who is George Soros? Read on and find out.

  • George Soros, a Hungarian-American investor and philanthropist was born in Budapest in 1930, and moved to the United Kingdom in 1947.

  • From 1969 onwards, he set up a series of hedge funds that gained him immense wealth.

  • He is worth over $8 billion and has donated over $32 billion to his philanthropic agency, the Open Society Foundations.

  • Soros developed the ‘Theory of Reflexivity’ that states that markets are often driven by the ideas of the participants and not just by economic fundamentals.

  • Soros is a well-known supported of liberal and progressive political causes.

  • He is also known as the ‘Man who broke the Bank of England’ for his short sale of $10 billion dollars worth of pound sterlings, in 1992.

  • During the 2003–2004 US election cycle, Soros donated over $23 million to 527 groups with an aim to defeat President George W Bush.

  • He subsequently also donated huge amounts towards the Barrack Obama and Hillary Clinton election campaigns.

  • He has been accused, and once convicted, of insider trading.

  • Conservatives have often claimed that Soros is the singularly dangerous ‘puppet master’ behind several alleged global plots.

  • Soros has been married three times and divorced twice.

  • There are also reports that Soros, himself Jewish, has anti-Semitic leanings.

  • This is what he said about PM Narendra Modi: ‘A democratically elected Narendra Modi is creating a Hindu nationalist state, imposing punitive measures on Kashmir, a semi-autonomous Muslim region, and threatening to deprive millions of Muslims of their citizenship.’

  • This is what he has said about Donald Trump: ‘President Trump is a con man and the ultimate narcissist who wants the world to revolve around him.’

Read More: George Soros at Davos