Alexander Soros (born October 27, 1985) is a son of

George Soros George Soros ( name written in eastern order), (born György Schwartz, August 12, 1930) is a Hungarian-American businessman and philanthropist. , he had a net worth of US$8.6 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated mo ...

. He is Deputy Chair of the

Open Society Foundations Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is a Grant (money), grantmaking network founded and chaired by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the wo ...

and one of the World Economic Forum's

Young Global Leaders Forum of Young Global Leaders, or Young Global Leaders (YGL), was created by Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum. The YGL, a non-profit organization managed from Geneva, Switzerland, is under the supervision of the Swiss government ...

of 2018.

Early life and education

Alexander Soros is the son of billionaire

and

Susan Weber Soros Susan Weber (born 1954) is an American historian. She is the founder and director of the Bard Graduate Center (BGC) for studies in the decorative arts, design history, and material culture affiliated with Bard College in Dutchess County, New York ...

. He was raised in

Katonah, New York Katonah is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) within the town of Bedford, Westchester County, in the U.S. state of New York. The Katonah CDP had a population of 1,679 at the 2010 census. History Katonah is named for Chief Katonah, an ...

and has a younger brother, Gregory. Alex attended

King Low Heywood Thomas King School, formerly King Low Heywood Thomas, is a private, co-educational day school for pre-kindergarten through grade 12 in Stamford, Connecticut. King attracts students from 30 towns in the Fairfield County, Connecticut, Dutchess County, New ...

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 ...

. He graduated from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

in 2009, and in 2018 graduated with a PhD in History from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

Philanthropy

Soros established himself as a philanthropist with his first major contribution to the

Jewish Funds for Justice The Jewish Funds for Justice (JFSJ) was an American charity based in New York. In 2005, Simon Greer became its President and CEO. In 2011, Progressive Jewish Alliance merged with Jewish Funds for Justice and became a new organization, Bend the ...

. According to a 2011 profile in ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', Soros' focus is on "progressive causes that might not have widespread support." Since then, he has joined the board of directors of organizations including

Global Witness Global Witness is an international NGO established in 1993 that works to break the links between natural resource exploitation, conflict, poverty, corruption, and human rights abuses worldwide. The organisation has offices in London and Washingt ...

(as an advisory board member), which campaigns against environmental and human rights abuses associated with the exploitation of natural resources; the

, which works to establish government accountability and democratic processes internationally; and Bend the Arc (which was formed by the merger of the

Progressive Jewish Alliance Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice is a progressive Jewish political organization that blends advocacy, community organizing, and leadership training. The organization advocates for a more equal and just society, focusing strictly on do ...

and

in 2012). Soros continues to donate to political causes as well. In March 2012 he donated $200,000 to the Jewish Council for Education and Research, the organization behind 2008's "Great Schlep" in support of then-candidate

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

. Alex is a recipient of the 2017 Gordon Parks Foundation Award for his philanthropic support of the Arts & Humanities.

Alexander Soros Foundation

In 2012 Soros established the Alexander Soros Foundation, which is dedicated to promoting social justice and human rights. Among the foundation's initial grantees are

Bend the Arc Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice is a progressive Jewish political organization that blends advocacy, community organizing, and leadership training. The organization advocates for a more equal and just society, focusing strictly on do ...

, the

National Domestic Workers Alliance The National Domestic Workers Alliance is an advocacy organization promoting the rights of domestic workers in the United States. Founded in 2007, it is made up of 4 local chapters and 63 affiliate organizations around the country, along with th ...

, which represents the rights of 2.5 million domestic workers in the U.S., and Make the Road New York, which builds the power of Latino and working class communities to achieve dignity and justice. Alongside the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

and the Open Society Foundations, the Alexander Soros Foundation funded the first-ever national statistical study of domestic workers ("Home Economics: The Invisible and Unregulated World of Domestic Work," released November 26, 2012).

Foundation awards

* In July 2012, the Alexander Soros Foundation presented its inaugural ASF Award for Environmental and Human Rights Activism to Liberian activist Silas Siakor. * In 2013, the prize went to

Chut Wutty Chut Wutty ( km, ឈុត វុទ្ធី; 1972–2012) was a Cambodian environmental activist who was founder and director of the Natural Resource Protection Group (NRPG). He was best known as the country's most vocal critic of the military' ...

, the Cambodian activist who died defending the

Prey Lang The Prey Lang Forest (; km, ព្រៃឡង់, ) is a forest in Kampong Thom, Preah Vihear, Kratie and Stung Treng Provinces in Northern Cambodia. The forest covers an estimated 3,600 square kilometres (1,390 square miles). It is one of S ...

forest. * In 2014, the prize was awarded posthumously to Edwin Chota, Jorge Ríos Pérez, Leoncio Quincima Meléndez and

Francisco Pinedo Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father of ...

—a group of indigenous leaders from Peru who were murdered because of their work trying to end

illegal logging Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, or from a pro ...

in their community in Peru's rain forest. * In 2015, the prize went to Alphonse Muhindo Valivambene and Bantu Lukambo for their dedication to defending Virunga National Park against corrupt interests attempting to open the park to illegal oil drilling and poaching. * In 2016, the prize went to Paul Pavol, a villager from

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

who is speaking out against the appropriation of rainforest in his home district of Pomio by Malaysian logging conglomerate

Rimbunan Hijau Rimbunan Hijau is a Malaysian multinational logging corporation controlled by Malaysian businessman Tiong Hiew King. The company has operations in many countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Vanuatu, ...

. * In 2017, Antônia Melo da Silva, a longtime Brazilian environmental activist, received the Alexander Soros Foundation Award for Environmental and Human Rights Activism for her inspiring role leading campaigns to stop the construction of the

Belo Monte Dam The Belo Monte Dam (''formerly known as'' Kararaô) is a hydroelectric dam complex on the northern part of the Xingu River in the state of Pará, Brazil. After its completion, with the installation of its 18th turbine, in November 2019, the inst ...

and other harmful infrastructure projects in the

Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest, Amazon jungle or ; es, Selva amazónica, , or usually ; french: Forêt amazonienne; nl, Amazoneregenwoud. In English, the names are sometimes capitalized further, as Amazon Rainforest, Amazon Forest, or Amazon Jungle. ...

Other activities

Alex Soros is credited as a producer of several movies, including Trial by Fire and

The Kleptocrats ''The Kleptocrats'' is a 2018 documentary film produced by Mike Lerner and directed by Sam Hobkinson and Havana Marking that investigates the theft of over $3 billion from Malaysian government fund 1MDB. The scandal implicated several public fi ...

Publications

In 2014, Soros contributed an essay to the book ''God, Faith and Identity from the Ashes: Reflections of Children and Grandchildren of Holocaust Survivors''. Soros' writing has appeared in, among others, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'',

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...

, ''

The Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a city in western Miami-Dade County and the Miami metropolitan area, several miles west of Downtown Miami.Sun-Sentinel The ''Sun Sentinel'' (also known as the ''South Florida Sun Sentinel'', known until 2008 as the ''Sun-Sentinel'', and stylized on its masthead as ''SunSentinel'') is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as well as surrounding Br ...

'', and ''

The Forward ''The Forward'' ( yi, פֿאָרווערטס, Forverts), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ' ...

''.

Personal life

Soros has homes in North Berkeley,

Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...

and

South Kensington South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...

, London.

References

External links

Alexander Soros Foundation

Open Society Foundation: Alexander Soros
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soros, Alexander 1985 births Living people American nonprofit chief executives American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent Businesspeople from New York City Jewish American philanthropists New York University alumni People from Katonah, New York

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

University of California, Berkeley alumni Philanthropists from New York (state)