Who is Alexander Soros, the heir of George Soros' empire?

Hungarian-American investor turned philanthropist George Soros gave control of his $25 billion empire to his younger son, Alexander Soros, according to an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

The newspaper reported that in December, the board of Open Society Foundations (OSF), elected Alexander as its chairman. He now directs political activities as president of Soros’ super PAC. He is also the sole family member on the investment committee and oversees Soros Fund Management, which is responsible for managing money for the Soros family and the foundation. 

Alexander superseded Soros' elder son Jonathan Soros. Jonathan, 52, is a lawyer with a background in finance. He was bound to be the successor until “a falling out and a change of heart,” changed the plans, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Who is Alexander Soros?

Alexander (who goes by name Alex) is 37-year old elder son of George’s second marriage to Susan Weber. He graduated from New York University in 2009 with a BA in history according to the OSF website. He completed his PhD in 2018 from University of California, Berkeley. Alex was a post-doctoral fellow at the Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and the Humanities at Bard College and an honorary fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study at Central European University in Budapest. He has also been a visiting fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna.

Alex joined the OSF in 2015 full-time, previously working as a part-time employee. According to the New York times, he first came into the limelight in 2008 for appearing at flashy parties, photos of which several media outlets published from his social media handles. 

"I became this caricature," Alex told the media outlet, expressing his shock over his portrayal as a party boy in the media. 

He turned to philanthropy around the same time and joined the board of Open Society Foundations. However, reports of his party lifestyle continued. The New York post described his parties with models and high profile athletes in a September 2016 report.

Alex was writing his Ph.D. thesis at the University of California, Berkeley titled "Jewish Dionysus: Heine, Nietzsche and the Politics of Literature" at the same time. He started bonding with his father during his teenage years over subjects of Latin and Marx as per a Times report in 2012. 

Is Alex different from his father?

Alex told The Washington Post that he is “more political” than Soros senior, who has been a right-wing target due to his actions. He had backed liberal causes such as reducing racial bias in the justice system. However Alex feels that the father-son duo “think alike".

He said that he was broadening his father's “liberal aims” and welcoming any different causes such as voting, abortion rights and gender equality. Alex aims to continue using his family's wealth for the support of left-leaning U.S. politicians.

He had recently met with Biden administration officials, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and heads of state, to push for issues related to the family foundation.

Alex was concerned that former US President Donald Trump would come back in power, according to The Washington Post. He hinted that his family's organisation 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 an interview with the newspaper.