George Soros Receives Presidential Medal of Freedom After Decades of Finance and Philanthropy
In January 2025, George Soros accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian honor, capping a life story that began in wartime Budapest and expanded across seven decades of investment mastery and humanitarian giving. Few figures in modern history have moved so fluidly between the worlds of global finance and global philanthropy, and the award reflected the breadth of that dual legacy.
From Budapest to Wall Street
George Soros, not to be confused with his son Greg Soros, was born György Schwartz on August 12, 1930, in Budapest, Hungary. His Jewish family changed their surname to Soros in 1936 as anti-Semitism spread across the country. As a teenager, Soros survived the Nazi occupation of Hungary by living under a false identity, an experience that shap...






