Soros: The Life and Times of a Messianic Billionaire

If you want a quick and easy broad overview of Soros then this is your book, but I would recommend Soros on Soros as being more useful at understanding the man. Also if you're a trader, don't even waste your time on this book. Get Alchemy of finance. This book is a fairly quick read but as you can imagine with a man like Soros, any authorised book is going to be mostly flattery. But it has it's amusing moments and some good pictures. I wouldn't pay more than $5 though for it. Then you can chuck it like a magazine when you're done.

Although this book is lacking on investment/trading ideas, I feel that by reading it, invaluable lessons can be learnt that will help one become a better trader/investor. No doubt George Soros is the greatest money manager in the world, but do you think it is his investment ideas and analysis that gives him the edge over others? No! It is his personality, and this book gives you an insight look into the character of this amazing man. If you wanna know how this man can bet billions against the Bank of England and still be able to sleep at night, read this book.Critical elements of George Soros' personality as the world's greatest trader:1. Believe in your own fallibility. To put it in another words, be humble and always believe that you can be wrong and when that happens, don't hesitate to change your stance. You will be surprised how this man can change his mind with such ease, in all aspects of his life, just so long as there is a reason for it. It is his central philosophy in life to believe in his own fallibility, therefore, he is so self-critical.2. The ability to compartmentalize. Which means this man has an extremely high EQ. As a trader, it is important not to let your personal affairs affect your trading performance, as mental concentration is of utmost importance. Soros has shown this trait throughout the book where he can immerse himself into his million dollar philantrophic activities just minutes after losing a couple of millions in a trade. Perhaps this man is so rational that he is devoid of emotions?3. The ability to take risk. A life that is always on the edge and full of uncertainty is not something that everybody can live with, much less excel in it. But hey, this man survived the holocaust through his childhood living on the edge of life and death. What's so big deal about money? Personally, I feel without the experience of his childhood, he will not be what he is today. 4. Competitive intensity. As a trader, you make what you deserve, and when you are wrong, you pay for it. If you are not one who embrace free competition, you can't be a trader. And this man likes competition so much that he will hire expert tennis players to play with him. In terms of money managing, his desire to achieve maximum returns is a crucial factor. And mind you, it is not greed that we are talking about, it is the desire to compete and be challenged.5. Intuition. Some say George Soros has strong survival instinct. One example is how his back aches serves as a warning about a position in a portfolio. Is it trading intuition at the highest level?An extraordinary man indeed!

This book has been an amazing trip for me. Just reading about his work in creating the "Open Society" foundations in various "Iron Curtain" countries was tantalizing enough for me to want to get all the books he has written and read everything. In the chapter entitled "Hungary" Mr. Soros' country of birth, the author discusses how amazed the people involved in setting up his "Open Society" foundations were when he simply puchased copy machines and had them shipped from the U.S. and installed in open areas of educational and public institutions. People had never before been able to copy and share information. Not even their own love letters and recipes. What wasn't implicitly legal in Hungary was, therefore, illegal. It makes one realize the importance of information in a free and open society. This is a very well done biography and shows Mr. Soros as a great human being.. warts and all. A very good read.

In going over this book, I came across many experiences of my own family going through the same period of WWII. I find the personality of Soros utterly fascinating, and can well understand why in the context of US culture, a man of this type is so little understood. What comes across is that people will only pay attention when there is money involved and when there is a lot of it, all the more. The fact that Soros has actually made substantial contributions to society are appreciated mainly because of the back drop of "money bags", rather than the intrinsic nature of his efforts. Sad to say, but that is what comes across clearly, in this very well written book. The narrative is good, the substance is highly entertaining, I enjoyed every minute of it.