adminNEW YORK. – US billionaire philanthropist George Soros has handed over the running of his US$25bn (£19.9bn) financial and charitable empire to his son Alex.
The Hungarian-born financier said his son had “earned it”, in an interview with the Wall Street Journel.
In recent years the 92-year-old former hedge fund manager has become the focus of anti-Semitic conspiracies.
A Soros spokesperson confirmed to the BBC the details of the interview published on Sunday.
George Soros is also one of the largest donors to the US Democratic Party.
Alex, a 37-year-old history graduate, is the second-youngest of his five children.
Alex is the only family member sitting on the investment committee for Soros Fund Management, the vehicle which the Wall Street Journal says is managing the US$25bn for the family and the charitable foundation.
George Soros, was born in Hungary, where as a child he lived through the horror of the Nazi occupation in 1944-45.
His family concealed their Jewish identity to survive.
After the war, he left Hungary for London, later moving to New York where he went on to make billions through his hedge fund activities.
He gained notoriety in the UK after making US$1bn correctly betting the pound would fall in 1992.
Alex Soros is a fan of hip-hop and New York Jets American football team, who is known for having a “high-flying” social life, attending celebrity parties in Cannes and the Hamptons.
He has also travelled to remote parts of the Amazon and joined the board of the human rights campaign group, Global Witness.
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter