FOOD FOR THOUGHT; GEORGE SOROS

Continuing with our effort to familiarize ourselves with the life and thought of some of the legendary Investors of all time, in this post, we shall take a peek into the life of GEORGE SOROS.

• Born in Hungary (Budapest ) in 1930, the young George Soros left Hungary for England in 1947. He graduated in 1952 from the London School Of Economics. In 1956 he emigrated to the USA where during the period 1956-1973 he worked as an Investment Manager and Analyst in renowned New York organisations.
• In 1973, George Soros broke away and founded his own hedge fund Company which he christened Soros Fund Management. This Firm later evolved into the famous Quantum Fund. While steering his organisation , George Soros gave pathbreaking returns of 30% annually in the period 1973-1993.
• By the late 1980s Soros had become one of the wealthiest people in the World and aptly he started conributing substantial amounts to philanthropic activity. It is said that he always wanted to be described as a 'financial, philanthropic and philosophical speculator'
• Soros' investment style was one of aggressively leveraged short-term speculative thrusts which, more often than not , earned him huge windfall gains. His Investment Style is best exemplified by his action in September 1992 when he put USD 10 Billion in a single speculative transaction where he shorted the British Pound;. the transaction went right for him and he is said to have earned upwards of USD 1 Billion from that single transaction. Interestingly, because of this, George Soros is also known as the 'Man who broke the Bank Of England'.
• Currently fully retired, George Soros continues to be the guiding lodestone for many Investors world-wide.

Some of his more famous Quotes are reproduced below:

• "It's not whether you're right or wrong that's important, but how much money you make when you're right and how much you lose when you're wrong."
• "I rely a great deal on animal instincts."
• "Playing by the rules, one does the best he can, irrespective of the social consequences. Whereas in making the rules, people ought to be concerned with the social consequences and not with their personal interests."

EARLIER POST ON PETER LYNCH SEE HERE

EARLIER POST ON BEN GRAHAM  SEE HERE

EARLIER POST ON WARREN BUFFETT  SEE HERE