George Soros Man of the Year

PEOPLE George Soros Named 'Person of the Year' by the Financial Times You know the name, sure. Facebook guaranteed that when it admitted to hiring a PR firm to attack Soros, who once called the platform a "menace to society." But how did Soros, just named the FT's Person of the Year, rise to prominence? He amassed a huge fortune as the "father of the hedge fund industry." Soros, who turned 88 this year, started his Soros Fund Management in 1969—about 13 years after he emigrated to the U.S. from Hungary (via London). He's famous for shorting the British pound in 1992, walking away with a profit of $1 billion. Soros was estimated to be worth $8 billion this year...but he's given about $32 billion of his wealth to his Open Society Foundation, which works to further democracy, transparency, and free expression in 100+ countries. So why is he in the news these days? Well, he's been the subject of numerous conspiracy theories from far-right groups. The truth is, he's a politically active and influential figure with a liberal agenda.