George Soros Named Financial Times’ ‘Person Of The Year’

George Soros Image by Getty Images
The Financial Times chose billionaire investor and philanthropist George Soros as its “Person of the Year.”
The publication said it picked Soros not only for his achievements, but also for “the values he represents.”
“He is the standard bearer of liberal democracy and open society. These are the ideas which triumphed in the cold war,” the Financial Times wrote. “Today, they are under siege from all sides, from Vladimir Putin’s Russia to Donald Trump’s America.”
Throughout the piece, Soros, who is Jewish, is lauded for his philanthropic endeavors. He has dedicated his life and wealth to liberal causes, fighting against “authoritarianism, racism and intolerance.” That has also made him a boogeyman to the far-right, spurring many — often anti-Semitic — conspiracy theories about him manipulating global politics, such as funding the recent United States midterm elections and the caravan of migrants attempting to cross over into the U.S. from Mexico. He was also the first Democratic figure to have a bomb sent to his home.
Meanwhile, he’s working toward a liberal democracy, vowing to fund a program that helps people find asylum from civil war, poverty or political oppression.
“I’m blamed for everything, including being the anti-Christ,” Soros told the Financial Times. “I wish I didn’t have so many enemies, but I take it as an indication that I must be doing something right.”
Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Most Popular
- 1
Film & TV What Gal Gadot has said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- 2
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 3
Culture How two Jewish names — Kohen and Mira — are dividing red and blue states
- 4
Opinion Mike Huckabee said there’s ‘no such thing as a Palestinian.’ It’s worth thinking about what that means
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward The NCAA men’s Final Four has 3 Jewish coaches
-
Fast Forward Yarden Bibas says ‘I am here because of Trump’ and pleads with him to stop the Gaza war
-
Fast Forward Trump’s plan to enlist Elon Musk began at Lubavitcher Rebbe’s grave
-
Film & TV In this Jewish family, everybody needs therapy — especially the therapists themselves
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.