A rich gambler who is accused of meddling in nations’ affairs

GEORGE SOROS is best known as the man who “broke the Bank of England” when he gambled that Britain would withdraw from one European system. Now he is betting on a campaign to keep the UK in another.

He made a fortune from Black Wednesday when, in 1992, his bets against the pound forced the UK to withdraw from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism.

The 87-year-old Hungarian-american survived Nazi occupation and then fled Communism. He is now believed to be worth $25billion (£18billion). In recent years, he has donated more than $32billion to the Open Society Foundation (OSF), which he founded in 1979, transforming the organisation into the world’s second largest philanthropic fund. But he stands accused by many governments around the world of meddling in their internal affairs through the OSF. The OSF has spent nearly $14billion over the past 35 years and is accused of toppling governments in Georgia and Ukraine. Mr Soros denies

He said Mr Trump wants to establish a mafia state in America and put the US ‘on a course to nuclear war’

the accusations and his supporters argue they are politically motivated, but it has not stopped the OSF being banned from Russia and Uzbekistan.

At a dinner at Davos last month, he said Donald Trump wanted to establish a “mafia state” in America and put the US “on a course toward nuclear war with North Korea”. He has been falsely accused by hardline Hungarian PM Viktor Orban of trying to orchestrate an ultraliberal crusade in the country. Mr Orban – who has himself been accused of stoking anti-semitic feeling – has opposed refugee distribution quotas and judicial reform. Yet he has given no indication of withdrawing from his native region.

Chris Stone, president of the OSF in New York, has said the organisation sees its work in eastern Europe “continuing for decades”.