A lengthy New York Times Magazine profile of George Soros fails to mention in any of its nearly 10,000 words that the liberal billionaire invested $3 million in the New York Times earlier this year.
The Soros profile allows the hedge fund manager and political activist the opportunity to give his own accounting of his decades of investments, both financial and political. The piece celebrates the virtuous goals of his political spending, works to humanize him, and attempts to discredit critics of some of his controversial moves.
On the $1.5 billion he made by toppling the British Pound, for example, it is "unquestionably true" that somebody else would have made the move if he hadn't, and the money likely wouldn't have gone to as "noble" of a cause if it wasn't Soros, who has used his wealth for the "ambitious" aim of promoting "liberal values and democracy," according to the Times.
Nowhere is it mentioned, however, that Soros this year placed a $3 million investment in the New York Times, a fact first reported by the Washington Free Beacon's Joe Schoffstall last month.
Soros Fund Management LLC, the billionaire's New York City-based investment firm, first disclosed the purchase of New York Times Company stock in a May 15 filing, a couple of weeks before Soros was first interviewed for the piece during a Paris dinner in his suite at the Bristol Hotel. Soros was again interviewed by the Times in July at his Hamptons estate, El Mirador, a "Mediterranean-style villa" where he is spending his summer.
When the Times last profiled Carlos Slim Helu, Mexico's richest man, it was written that his "vast holdings include a significant number of shares in The New York Times" and that he was then "the company’s largest shareholder." Slim, like Soros, owned Class A stock in the company.
The rare access Soros gave to the Times did reveal many newsworthy details, including how he viewed former President Barack Obama as his "greatest disappointment," not because of his politics, but rather because he "closed the door" on Soros.
"He made one phone call thanking me for my support, which was meant to last for five minutes, and I engaged him, and he had to spend another three minutes with me, so I dragged it out to eight minutes," Soros said, adding that he viewed this as further proof of an Obama character flaw. "He was someone who was known from the time when he was competing for the editorship of The Harvard Law Review to take his supporters for granted and to woo his opponents."
Soros also went after Democratic senator Kirsten Gillibrand for "using #MeToo to promote herself" and revealed a belief that Democrats were becoming too extreme.
"I'm opposed to the extreme left," he said. "It should stop trying to keep up with the extremists on the right."
Soros also said there were Republicans—senators John McCain (Ariz.), Susan Collins (Maine), and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska)—whom he wished he could back financially, but restrains himself because he knows it would hurt them politically.
"I don't particularly want to be a Democrat," Soros said.