George Soros and his son Alexander.
American investor George Soros passed control of his multi-billion dollar foundation to his son, 37-year-old Alexander Soros, last month. The second youngest of the billionaire's five children and the "more political" son has now slashed 40 per cent of the foundation's workforce, as per a report in Fortune. The Open Society Foundations, which was established in 1979, announced on Friday that it will be undergoing "significant changes" to its operational structure.
In an email statement sent to the outlet on Monday, the company, which contributes money to several causes, such as equality and climate change campaigns, confirmed that these adjustments included the "difficult decision" to reduce its employment by nearly half. A spokesperson stated, "The Board has directed Open Society's senior leadership to proceed with the work necessary to implement this new approach in accordance with local requirements and obligations to our employees and representatives."
"We anticipate that implementing the proposed new model would involve further streamlining of our current organization, redesign and retooling of our existing operations, and a substantial reduction in headcount of no less than 40% globally," they continued.
The foundation, which had close to a thousand employees, is now only left with 800, as per the outlet. The Open Society Foundations said in a statement on Friday that the job cuts and other organisational modifications will increase its capacity to "counter the forces currently threatening open and free societies."
As per Fortune, the organisation stated that the new model would favour "both longer-term 'patient capital' approaches as well as tactical short-term needs". It added, "The Board expects that this new model will create a culture of 'strategic opportunism' at the Foundations and among the grantees they support."
The younger Soros, who considers himself "more political" than his father, said that one of his top aims would be to push back against a possible second term by former US president Donald Trump. Alexander also stated that the foundation would continue down a similar path his father charted, pushing free speech, criminal justice reform, minority and refugee rights and backing liberal politicians, as per AFP.