Is the world ready for the next generation of Soros?

Alexander Soros is poised to take over his father's billion-dollar philanthropic empire. But will he ultimately inherit more than just that?

Conspiracy theory cork board with clippings and photographs
(Image credit: Illustrated / Getty Images)

In the world of social and political philanthropy, perhaps no one is larger than Hungarian-born hedge fund titan George Soros. Through his Open Society Foundations, Soros has distributed billions of dollars to a host of liberal and progressive causes and candidates across the U.S. and Europe, earning him the ire of conservatives for whom his very name has become shorthand for nebulous, and frequently antisemitic, conspiracy theories often wildly at odds with his history of staunch anti-communism. Now at age 92, the man once dubbed the world's greatest money manager is preparing to hand over his business and philanthropic empire to his similarly left-leaning son, Alexander, the self-described "more political" Soros who leapfrogged his older brother, Jonathan, to assume control of the family fortune.

"Our side has to be better about being more patriotic and inclusive," the younger Soros told The Wall Street Journal in an interview that hinted at the Open Society Foundation's future. "Just because someone votes Trump doesn't mean they're lost or racist." But despite this nod toward bipartisan comity, and the prediction from ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero that Alexander is "unlikely to be the boogeyman" his father was for the right, it remains to be seen whether this younger Soros will ultimately inherent, or eschew, the oversize fixation his family's name has engendered among conservatives.

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Rafi Schwartz, The Week US

Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.