Reuters Publishes George Soros Obituary by Accident
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The Reuters news agency accidentally published an obituary of Jewish billionaire and prominent liberal political donor George Soros.
“George Soros, who died XXX at age XXX, was a predatory and hugely successful financier and investor, who argued paradoxically for years against the same sort of free-wheeling capitalism that made him billions,” read the story which carried the byline of Todd Eastham.
The less-than-glowing obituary moved on the agency’s Reuters America news wire, to which the Forward subscribes, at about 5:30 p.m. The wire service sent an advisory about an hour later saying the story was being withdrawn.
Visitors to Reuters’ web site after that time received a “Page Not Found” error message.
But by then it was too late to stop internet users worldwide from reading and downloading the article.
The obituary, as might be expected, focused mostly on Soros’s rise to the top of the financial world and particularly his remarkable success as a currency trader, mentioning his Jewish heritage only in passing.
“(Soros) landed his first job in the financial industry largely through pure stubborn chutzpah,” the obituary read.
It also mentioned the fact that many economists and political figures blame his predatory tactics for driving down the value of the British pound in the 1990s and sparking the Asian financial crisis a few years later, charges he denied.
The obituary said Soros gives away about $600 million a year. He famously donated $23 million to opponents of George W. Bush in 2004, but failed to prevent his reelection.
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