“Is George Soros dead?”, “Has George Soros died?”—social media became flooded with such rumours after a Twitter user falsely claimed that Hungarian-born American investor George Soros died of a heart attack.
On May 14, a post from the Twitter account of Politics for All Ireland, a fake account with three followers at the time, tweeted that the 92-year-old had died, and claimed that it got the confirmation from the billionaire’s family.
This tweet was soon picked up by another Twitter user, Cillian, who has been termed by many as a conspiracy theorist. His tweet quickly became viral and was viewed more than 745,000 people at that time.
If the Mainstream Media—including The Daily Mail and The Sun—is calling me a “conspiracy theorist”, I must be doing something right! pic.twitter.com/FGYxSYJhBM
— Cillian (@CilComLFC) May 15, 2023
Another prominent user, Matt Wallace, a right-wing influencer and crypto investor, who has been accused of sharing misleading content and investment “scams” in the past, further claimed that Soros died of a heart attack, without providing any evidence.
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Soon, George Soros started trending on Twitter worldwide.
However, it has been confirmed that the 92-year-old investor is alive and kicking.
“George Soros is alive and healthy. Rumors on social media that he suffered a heart attack and died are false,” a spokesperson for the Open Society Foundations, founded by Soros, told Newsweek in an email.
Soros, too, later took to Twitter to bust the death hoax.
“Rumors that I had a heart attack are completely false. I am alive and healthy.”
Rumors that I had a heart attack are completely false. I am alive and healthy.
— George Soros (@georgesoros) May 15, 2023
There are some reports suggesting that some pranksters began this trend to target him because he is Jewish.
Notably, this isn’t the first time that Soros death has gained traction on social media.
In 2013, Reuters news agency accidentally published his obituary. Hours later it removed the report after realising that it was just a hoax.
Born in Hungary in 1930, Soros has lived through the Nazi occupation of 1944–1945, which resulted in the murder of over 500,000 Hungarian Jews.
His Jewish family survived by securing false identity papers, concealing their backgrounds, and helping others do the same, according to Open Society Foundations website.
Soros later recalled that “not only did we survive, but we managed to help others.”
After emigrating to England in 1947, Soros attended the London School of Economics (LSE) and began working at merchant banks, first in England and then in the US.
In 1969, George Soros started his own hedge fund. Thereafter, he started his second hedge fund, in 1970, Soros Fund Management.
As of 2023, he is reportedly worth £5.8 billion, that is after he gave away 80 percent of his wealth to charity.
Soros has been a frequent target of antisemitism, conspiracy theories, personal attacks by authoritarian political leaders such as Hungary’s Viktor Orban and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
He has been subjected to numerous conspiracy theories, with many claiming that Soros is responsible for stoking immigration, backing coups, sponsoring protests and seeking to push a multicultural and liberal agenda.
(With inputs from agencies)
