A charity run by the progressive billionaire George Soros is slashing its workforce by 40 percent as the Democratic megadonor hands the wheel to his 37-year-old playboy son.
Open Society Foundations announced it will make a "substantial reduction in headcount" in the coming months, according to Bloomberg News. The charity, which Soros has funded to the tune of $30 billion, acknowledged the layoffs were a "difficult decision," but claimed it will emerge a "nimbler" organization. Open Society offered resources to employees to cope with the coming layoffs, including a "Well-being in Uncertain Times" workshop, and the opportunity to meet with a "People and Culture Advisory Partner."
The changes come as George Soros, 92, has ceded control of Open Society to his son, Alex, who was until recently best known for hosting NBA athletes and supermodels at luxury parties in the Hamptons.
It also portends a rocky road for one of the progressive movement’s most prominent charities. Open Society, which awarded $325 million in grants in 2021, sponsors a number of left-wing causes in the United States and across the globe. It funds organizations behind the movement to defund the police, pack the Supreme Court, and expand climate change regulations.
The younger Soros recently said he plans to use Open Society’s $25 billion war chest to fund the cause to expand abortion rights and voting rights. He also claimed to be "way more political" than his father, the Democratic Party’s largest individual donor.
While Alex Soros has given only a fraction of his dad’s campaign donations, he has been spotted hobnobbing with President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.), former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), and other Democratic luminaries. Alex has visited the Biden White House nearly 20 times, and had several meetings with National Security Council officials.