Soros: The Unauthorized Biography — The Life, Times and Trading Secrets of the World’s Greatest Investor by Robert Slater
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In Soros: The Unauthorized Biography, renowned biographer and former Time reporter Robert Slater has looked behind closed doors to reveal the unique philosophy and investment strategies that have given this Hungarian-born billionaire enormous influence over world financial markets. This intimate and insightful biography examines SorosÕ extraordinary life, his outspoken opinions, and the hundreds of millions of dollars in philanthropy that have made George Soros an influential business, social, and political figure throughout Eastern Europe and the world.
Introduction:
Settled back in his high, leather chair behind an oval desk, George Soros gazed out the large windows to the left, taking in the breathtaking view of Central Park and the rush-hour activity some thirty-three floors below. He was thrilled to be once again part of The Game. Lately, when he entered the Soros Fund Management office in midtown Manhattan, Soros had begun to feel more like a visitor than the boss. But today he belonged. Today he could climb a mountain. Or break the bank. He was confident that he could still play The Game… and play it better than most. Maybe better than everyone.
So what if he spent most of his time in recent years traveling in faraway places? His operation had run smoothly since 1988, when he entrusted it to a much younger man with a glittering financial record, Stanley Druckenmiller. When Soros did show up at the office, he and Druckenmiller ran the place in tandem, even though they sometimes clashed over how to read the financial markets.
Ordinarily these days, though, Soros was more likely to be off in Eastern Europe or the former Soviet Union, helping to shape and nurture the philanthropic foundations he had established in the 1980s to turn those countries into models of democracy. Devoting all his energies for years to probing the financial markets, he had made all the money he would ever need. Now, in the autumn of his life, he sought to escape the office routine as much as possible. Now he preferred to huddle with his foundation staffs in Hungary or Romania, to slog through the muddy streets of Bosnia, to take part in adventure.
But today was no ordinary day. George Soros was about to lay down the biggest bet in financial history. His heart should have been pounding, he should have been pacing the floor, shouting nervously to terrified staff. But that was never his style. Only his mind was racing. He sat, a portrait of calm, asking himself the question he had always asked whenever he was about to jump in and make a splash. Is this the right thing to do? Am I going to drown? As he stared at the first flickering white lights of the city, Soros’s mind drifted a few thousand miles away. Would he be better off in London? He wasn’t entirely sure. Maybe today it didn’t matter.
Contents:
- The World’s Greatest Investor
- I Am God
- The Cellars of Budapest
- Like Freud or Einstein
- The Blind Leading the Blind
- Invest First and Investigate Later
- Putting My Money Where My Mouth Was Chapter 9 A Quantum Leap
- The Identity Crisis
- The Imperial Circle
- Killing of a Lifetime
- Philosophical Speculator
- A Cheap Price for Freedom
- An Urge to Reveal Oneself
- The Big Crash
- It Takes Courage To Be a Pig
- Taming the Snake
- “The One-Way Bet”
- Black Wednesday
- King of the Hedge Funds
- The Guru
- A Common Virus Known as Hubris
- I’m a Hungarian Jew
- The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre
- Mr. Soros Goes to Washington
- Richer Than 42 Countries
SOROS: The Unauthorized Biography, the Life, Times and Trading Secrets of the World's Greatest Investor By Robert Slater pdf
| Author(s) | |
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| Format | |
| Pages | 260 |
| Publication Year | 1997 |
3 reviews for Soros: The Unauthorized Biography — The Life, Times and Trading Secrets of the World’s Greatest Investor by Robert Slater
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Finnegan Knapp (verified owner) –
The author seams try to hide the little information he was able to gather from outside the Soros’s circle with a poetic writing about his rise to be a “Master of the Universe”. But the fact remain that the book give only a very superficial idea about Soros and for sure do not address the big question about him: “Devil’s Master of Globalization or Saint of a New Economy?”
Ariel Robbins (verified owner) –
I don’t think this is a good book at all. It seemed like fiction to me. Author did not have access to Soros yet speaks from Soros’ perspective (describing Soros’ thoughts as Soros sits in his office-but author did not even get one meeting/interview with Soros, how would he know?). Author would ask questions like “What was Soros thinking?” The writing and events were all over the place (not organized by the Chapter subject heading as one would expect). You are much better off reading the Kaufman biography, where he worked with Soros. Seems like this was just a ploy to cash-in on Soros’ name. Very disappointing.
Conrad Hawkins (verified owner) –
There isn’t any real connection here between the author and Soros. One gets the feeling that the author tries to be dispassionate because he doesn’t like Soros, understandable of course, but that makes the book dry like some academic review. Everything seems like Slater is clinically reviewing the skeletal remains of Tivadar Shorosh (George Soros’s Hungarian name) instead of dealing with the meat and potatoes of what he eventually morphed into. A good example is Soros’s divorce from his first wife, German born Annalise with whom he had 3 children — little is mentioned about this and when his divorce came through, that very day his pickup line to his next wife WAS “I just got divorced today, wanna have lunch?” Perhaps it is me, but that’s a little too dispassionate. Perhaps that is what Soros is really like, I can’t say. I think the book would have benefitted from some real interviews with people who knew and worked with Soros isntead of second hand accounts with people who interviewed people who knew Soros. As for the “secrets’ of Soros’ success? Hard work and sheer determination. But how he got that intial seed money, which you need to make any fortune, is simply glossed over.