Report: Billionaire investor, philanthropist George Soros cedes control of empire to a younger son

George Soros, founder and chairman of the Open Society Foundations, attends the Joseph A. Schumpeter Award ceremony in Vienna, Austria, June 21, 2019. The billionaire investor turned philanthropist is ceding control of his US$25 billion empire to a younger son, Alexander Soros, according to an exclusive interview with The Wall Street Journal published online Sunday, June 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak, File)

NEW YORK — Billionaire investor turned philanthropist George Soros is ceding control of his US$25 billion empire to a younger son, Alexander Soros, according to an exclusive interview with The Wall Street Journal published online Sunday.

Soros' business holdings include his nonprofit Open Society Foundations, which is active in more than 120 countries around the world and funnels about US$1.5 billion annually to groups such as those that back human rights and promote the growth of democracies around the world, according to its website.

The 37-year-old, who goes by Alex, told the Wall Street Journal that he is "more political" than his 92-year-old father, who has been a right-wing target for his backing of liberal causes such as reducing racial bias in the justice system. But he noted that the two "think alike."

Alex said he was broadening his father's "liberal aims" and embracing different causes including voting and abortion rights, as well as gender equity. He said he aims to keep using the family's wealth to back left-leaning U.S. politicians.

Alex told the Wall Street Journal that he recently met with Biden administration officials, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and heads of state, including Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, to push for issues related to the family foundation.

In December, the board of Open Society Foundations, known as OSF, elected Alex as its chairman, succeeding his father. The newspaper also reported that Alex now directs political activity as president of Soros's super PAC.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the younger Soros is the only family member on the investment committee overseeing Soros Fund Management, which manages money for the foundation and the family.

During the interview with the newspaper, Alex expressed concern that former President Donald Trump would return to the White House and hinted that the Soros organization would play a key financial role in the 2024 presidential race.

"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, too," he said in the interview that took place at the fund manager's New York offices.

Alex is the oldest of two sons from George Soros' marriage with his second wife, Susan Weber, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The appointment passes over George Soros' elder son Jonathan Soros, 52, a lawyer with a background in finance. He had been believed to be the clear successor until "a falling out and a change of heart," according to the paper.