Investor George Soros has transferred about $18 billion US, the majority of his estimated fortune, to his Open Society Foundations, making them the second largest philanthropic grant-making group in the United States, according to media reports on Tuesday. Representatives for Open Society did not respond to requests for comment from Reuters. Open Society works globally to "build vibrant and tolerant democracies" and has given away nearly $14 billion since inception in 1979, according to its website. Soros early this year hired former UBS Group AG asset management executive Dawn Fitzpatrick to serve as the latest chief investment officer for New York-based Soros Fund Management, which also manages money for Open Society. Only the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is now larger than Open Society among U.S. grant-making groups, with an endowment of about $40 billion US.

Source: CBC News October 18, 2017 13:46 UTC