Liberal philanthropist George Soros taps ‘more political’ son to take over empire

News

By Jorge Fitz-Gibbon

June 11, 2023 | 12:59pm

Billionaire Dem donor George Soros is handing over the reins of his empire to a younger son who says he is even “more political’’ than his lefty dad and was once ashamed of their over-the-top wealth.

The 92-year-old Soros family patriarch previously boasted that he would never cede control of his companies while he was still alive but now says his 37-year-old son Alex, an NYU grad, has earned the right to take over the family’s holdings — including its nonprofit Open Society Foundation, which funnels about $1.5 billion a year to liberal causes.

The move passes over Soros’s elder son, Jonathan, 52, who at one point was thought to be the obvious heir to the family’s $25 billion empire.

Alex told the Wall Street Journal in an article published Sunday that he is even “more political” than their father.

“As much as I would love to get money out of politics, as long as the other side is doing it, we will have to do it,” Alex said.

Alex is the half-brother of Jonathan, a son from their dad’s first marriage, and the oldest of two sons from George’s second marriage.

The 37-year-old — introverted and once eschewing the family’s wealth — seemed a longshot to take over the Soros fortune while growing up in the tony Westchester County hamlet of Katonah.

He has been known to favor thick-rimmed glasses and love hip-hop and the New York Jets, who are among the sports teams he often pops up to watch in the Big Apple.

Less bombastic but more detail-oriented than his famous father, Alex Soros also has delved more into domestic politics than his dad and told the Journal he is laser-focused on Donald Trump’s latest presidential bid — and is expected to weigh in heavily in the 2024 elections.

He recently met with top Democratic leaders, including officials from the Biden administration and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.

Democracy PAC, the Soros’s political action committee, has also backed criminal-justice-reform prosecutors and law-enforcement officials in previous election campaigns.

“I have some differences with my generation in regard to free speech and other things,” Alex said. “I grew up watching [TV pundit] Bill Maher before bed, after all.”

George Soros, a Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor, built his fortune as a major hedge-fund manager in the 1970s and 1980s, making keen and sometimes unpredictable financial decisions that proved lucrative.

He is a favorite target of conservative pols and right-wing pundits because of his devotion to liberal causes and philanthropy.

Billionaire Elon Musk tweeted last month that George Soros reminds him of the Marvel X-Men comic-book character Magneto and quipped that that the elderly billionaire “wants to erode the very fabric of civilization.”

For decades, Jonathan Soros seemed next in line for the family fortune and legacy.

Jonathan, a Harvard-educated lawyer, is the third child from his father’s first marriage and joined the Soros investment firm in 2002 and gained respect for his financial and business savvy.

More analytical than his father, the two butted heads, and Jonathan left in 2011.

The vacuum opened an opportunity for Alex, who earned a Ph.D. in history from New York University, began working part-time for the family foundation in 2004 — and took on a full-time role after his half-brother departed.

Employees recalled his attention to detail and said he often attended staff meetings carrying a small notebook in which he would jot down notes — a departure from his father’s hands-off approach.

“He can drive folks in the foundation crazy because he’s so hands-on,” said Anthony Romer, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, to the Journal.

Now poised to take over, Alex Soros identifies himself politically as center-left and is dangling the family’s billions of dollars to push Democrats to be more proactive about improving black and Latino turnout at the polls.

“Our side has to be better about being more patriotic and inclusive,” he said. “Just because someone votes Trump doesn’t mean they’re lost or racist.”

With Post wires