How much has George Soros donated to U.S. political campaigns and through which organizations?
Executive summary
George Soros has been a major financier of U.S. political activity for two decades, using both direct personal donations and a web of nonprofits and super PACs; reporting finds hundreds of millions of dollars flowing into American politics from him and organizations he funds, with major disclosed items including roughly $140 million channeled by an Open Society–linked nonprofit in 2021 and at least $170 million he gave personally in the 2022 midterm cycle [1]. Analysts and trackers such as OpenSecrets, FactCheck.org and Ballotpedia show that much of Soros’s political giving is routed through entities like Democracy PAC/Democracy PAC II, the Open Society network and donor-advised or 501(c) nonprofits, complicating a single “total” figure [2] [1] [3].
1. The headline figures reporters cite: $140M, $170M, and “about $500M”
CNBC documented a nonprofit financed by Soros that donated approximately $140 million to advocacy groups and ballot efforts in 2021 and reported Soros personally contributed more than $170 million during the 2022 midterm cycle, with the outlet saying Soros’s political giving since January 2020 amounted to “roughly half a billion dollars — at the least” [1]. Those figures are anchored to tax filings and FEC disclosure materials cited by CNBC and represent large, discrete transfers to politically active groups rather than simple one-line donations to candidates [1].
2. The vehicles: Open Society network, 501(c)s and super PACs
A substantial portion of those funds moved through the Open Society network — notably Open Society Policy Center and other 501(c) and 501(c) affiliates — which can fund advocacy and indirect political activity; CNBC traced the 2021 $140 million through that network [1]. Separately, Soros has seeded and backed super PACs such as Democracy PAC and Democracy PAC II, which can accept unlimited contributions and in 2022 and 2024 cycles received and disbursed tens to hundreds of millions, including an initial $125 million gift to Democracy PAC II in 2022 as noted in FactCheck.org’s review [2].
3. Historical giving: 2004, 2012–2020 patterns and political 527s
Soros’s pattern of large, targeted political giving is not new: OpenSecrets and summary histories show he gave roughly $23.6 million to various 527 groups in the 2003–2004 cycle, and between 2004–2008 he gave about $32.2 million to Democratic-aligned 527s, making him a top donor in that period [4] [5]. Over time the mechanisms shifted from 527s to super PACs and nonprofits; commentators and watchdogs note Soros’s strategy often uses intermediary nonprofits that then fund electoral or policy campaigns, which obscures a simple sum-to-candidates calculation [5] [1].
4. How watchdogs compile totals—and why totals vary
OpenSecrets compiles individual and organization profiles that aggregate disclosed contributions to PACs and candidates, but their summaries note limitations: some totals reflect donations by individuals linked to an organization rather than the organization itself, and nonprofits can move money in ways that evade plain candidate-donation tallies [6] [7]. That methodological complexity explains why different outlets report different aggregates—some cite direct FEC-reported donations to candidates and PACs, others include grants from politically active 501(c)s or transfers between nonprofits [8] [6].
5. Political impact, critics and defenders
Supporters frame Soros’s giving as large-scale philanthropy aimed at criminal-justice reform, voting rights and other progressive priorities and note funds often support advocacy and organizing rather than direct candidate payoffs [1] [3]. Critics portray the same flows as outsized billionaire influence and “dark money” because transfers among nonprofits and super PACs mask the end destinations; fact-checkers and reporters such as FactCheck.org and CNBC have documented both the sums and the opaque pathways, pointing to an implicit agenda of influence through third-party groups [2] [1].
6. What reporting does not settle
Available reporting documents large, traceable transfers but does not produce a single authoritative, exhaustive dollar total for every dollar Soros has spent on U.S. political activity across decades because of shifting legal vehicles, family-office transfers and intermediary nonprofits; sources explicitly warn that publicly disclosed figures understate activity routed through nonreporting channels and that methodology matters when aggregating [1] [6]. OpenSecrets, FactCheck.org, CNBC, Ballotpedia and the Center for Public Integrity together map the main recipients and offer conservative, documented snapshots of his giving, but no single provided source offers a definitive lifetime tally that reconciles every transfer [8] [2] [1] [5] [3].