A spokesperson for controversial billionaire financier George Soros on Sunday (11 June) said that he is entrusting the control of his massive empire to his son, Alexander.

Soros, a 92-year-old renowned hedge fund manager turned philanthropist, is an ardent supporter of liberal causes.

He had earlier expressed reluctance to pass on control of his Open Society Foundations (OSF) to any of his five children.

Despite his initial reservations, Soros has now entrusted his son, Alexander, with the foundation, along with his $25 billion empire.

In speaking of his decision, Soros stated that his 37-year-old son, who goes by Alex, has "earned it", reports Reuters.

Alex has spoken out about his "more political" nature in comparison to his father in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. He has expressed his intention to continue donating family funds to left-leaning US political candidates.

Alex has shared with the Journal his plans to expand the foundation's agenda. His focus will now include advocating for voting and abortion rights as well as gender equity.

Acknowledging the challenges of money in politics, Alex underscored the importance of funding political campaigns.

"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.

After being elected as chairman of the OSF board in December, Alex now presides over his father's political action committee. As the PAC's president, he is now responsible for directing all political activities. The Wall Street Journal reported that the foundation provides approximately $1.5 billion annually to a variety of groups.

These organisations include ones that support human rights internationally and "helping build democracies", according to a Reuters report.

Soros is a controversial figure in US and many European countries, with many accusing him of meddling in internal affairs of sovereign nations.

Earlier in February, India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had slammed Soros for his remarks on PM Modi and India's democracy, saying he is "old, rich, opinionated and dangerous".

“Few years ago, he actually accused us of planning to strip millions of Muslims of their citizenship, which of course didn't happen. It was a ridiculous suggestion. But you have to understand what this actually mean. I would take a view that Mr Soros is an old, rich opinionated person sitting in New York who still thinks that his views should determine how the entire world works,” Jaishankar said at an event in Australia in February.

“Now if I would only stop at old, rich and opinionated, I would put it away. But he is old, rich, opinionated and dangerous. Because what happens is when such people and such views and such organisations, they actually invest resources in shaping narratives,” he added.

"People like him think an election is good if the person they want to see, wins and if the election throws up a different outcome then they will say it is a flawed democracy and the beauty is that all this is done under the pretence of advocacy of open society," EAM Jaishankar was quoted as saying by ANI.

Jaishankar's remarks came after Soros, in a speech a week earlier, said that the Adani crisis will weaken the Narendra Modi regime, and will ‘open the door’ to a democratic revival in the country.

Soros further said that PM Modi would have to answer questions from foreign investors and parliament on allegations of fraud and stock manipulation, as per a Financial Times report.

He also said that PM Modi was no democrat and inciting violence against Muslims was an important factor in his meteoric rise.

He also complained against India buying cheap Russian crude oil.

Earlier in 2020, Soros unveiled his plan to set up a $1billion fund to build a global network of higher educational institution by targeting students through various awareness and outreach initiate to fight the resurgent nationalism around the world.

Delivering a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Soros identified the rising populism internationally as a huge threat and specifically mounted an attack on the then US president Donald Trump as well as China’s Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi — and Brexit.

"Nationalism, far from being reversed, made further headway," Soros thundered.

“I believe that as a long-term strategy our best hope lies in access to quality education, specifically an education that reinforces the autonomy of the individual by cultivating critical thinking and emphasising academic freedom,” he said.

Soros warned about a growing threat from populism and climate change and pledged $1bn towards a new global university network to tackle intolerance.

The fund is likely to be operated through the controversial organisation he founded -Open Society Foundations.

The organisation is set to nurture partnerships between leading universities, think tanks and cultural institutions across the world.

The biggest and "most frightening setback," Soros claimed was in India "where a democratically elected Narendra Modi is creating a Hindu nationalist state, imposing punitive measures on Kashmir, a semi-autonomous Muslim region, and threatening to deprive millions of Muslims of their citizenship."

One of the planet’s wealthiest men, Soros’s past is marred with serious allegations of crimes and misdemeanours including a conviction for insider trading by a French court that levied a fine of $2.3 million.

Alexander Soros

Get Swarajya in your inbox.