Billionaire financier George Soros has decided its succession time, and announced on Sunday that he will be handing over control of his massive empire to his son Alexander.
A hedge fund manager turned philanthropist and major backer of multiple liberal causes, Soros, 92, had been shy to relinquish his Open Society Foundations (OSF, which he insisted should be run by one of his five children.
And the foundation prize — along with the rest of his $25-billion empire — goes to his oldest, Alex, age 37, who Soros said “earned it.”
For his part, Alex said he’s “more political” than his father and that he plans to continue donating family money to left-leaning U.S. political candidate.
“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,” Alex said.
The OSF board elected Alex as its chairman in December, and Alex now directs political activity as president of Soros’ political action committee.
By Carolina Mandl and Rami Ayyub/Reuters
