Keep Factually independent
Whether you agree or disagree with our analysis, these conversations matter for democracy. We don't take money from political groups - even a $5 donation helps us keep it that way.
HOW MUCH DID SOROS GIVE DEMOCRATS
Executive summary
George Soros and his network have been major funders of Democratic candidates and allied groups: reporting shows Soros personally gave roughly $128 million in the 2022 cycle (largely to Democrats) and earlier made a $125 million donation to a liberal super PAC in 2021; his broader Open Society network has funneled hundreds of millions more to political causes and nonprofits, with some estimates putting cumulative political-related giving since 2020 at roughly $500 million and OSF philanthropy at tens of billions over decades [1] [2] [3] [4]. Coverage varies by outlet and purpose — some pieces emphasize direct campaign donations, others focus on foundation grants or “dark money” nonprofit transfers — so totals depend on which flows you count [3] [2].
1. What the headline numbers mean: direct donations vs. foundation grants
When people ask “How much did Soros give Democrats?” they can mean (a) his personal contributions to political committees and super PACs, (b) grants from Open Society Foundations (OSF) and affiliated nonprofits to advocacy groups that mostly back Democratic causes, or (c) transfers through tax-exempt intermediaries sometimes labeled “dark money.” FactCheck and OpenSecrets documents show a highly visible $125 million payment to Democracy PAC II (a Soros-funded super PAC) in 2021 and campaign-cycle totals of about $128 million in 2022 in individual donations that primarily supported Democrats [2] [1]. Separately, reporting from CNBC and others documents roughly $140 million in 2021 moved from Soros-financed nonprofits to political groups, and suggests combined political and cause-related spending since 2020 could approach half a billion dollars depending on accounting [3].
2. The largest, widely cited items: Democracy PAC and Democracy PAC II
The most-cited single items are the super PAC donations: Soros’s initial $125 million to Democracy PAC II [5] and large recurring transfers to Democracy PAC I/II that paid for Democratic electoral efforts. FactCheck.Org traces those donations and subsequent expenditures, while OpenSecrets captures candidate- and committee-level filings showing most of these funds flowed to Democratic-aligned operations (p1_s4; [12] cited by other coverage). Coverage emphasizes these as explicit, reportable political spending [2].
3. Nonprofit and “dark money” flows complicate any single total
Reporting by CNBC and congressional papers highlights that the Open Society network and affiliated 501(c)[6] or donor-advised funds moved additional tens or hundreds of millions into political and advocacy activity that isn’t always itemized like campaign donations. CNBC reported a nonprofit financed by Soros quietly donated $140 million to political causes in 2021 and said Soros’s contributions to campaigns and causes since January 2020 were “roughly half a billion dollars” — language that signals this is an estimate depending on which entities and years you include [3]. Congressional materials and other reporting note many transfers are routed through nonprofits and policy centers [7].
4. Long-term philanthropy vs. partisan political giving
Soros’s Open Society Foundations is a major philanthropic operation distinct from his direct political giving; the New York Times notes the foundations have donated more than $24 billion over decades for “democracy-building” and other global work, much of it non-electoral grantmaking [4]. That large figure is philanthropic, not identical to campaign contributions, but critics and some investigations treat portions of the OSF network’s funding of U.S. civic groups as politically consequential [4] [3].
5. Disputes, investigations and partisan framing
Republican lawmakers and conservative outlets have alleged ties between Soros-funded groups and protest movements or extremist activity; House GOP probes and Fox News coverage have sought records and suggested links to Antifa, while OSF and reporting rebut or contextualize those claims [8] [9]. The Justice Department and Trump administration moves to investigate Soros-linked entities — reported in multiple outlets — further politicize the debate and influence how totals and purposes are framed [10] [9]. Some reporting characterizes such probes as politically motivated; other pieces present them as oversight [10] [11].
6. How to interpret an answer: define the scope you want counted
If you mean only legally reported, individual contributions to federal candidates and PACs, cite OpenSecrets/FEC totals (e.g., ~$128 million in the 2022 cycle and the $125M 2021 super PAC gift) [1] [2]. If you include nonprofit grants, 501(c)[6] activity and transfers through OSF-affiliated groups, totals rise into the hundreds of millions or more — CNBC and other reporting suggest “roughly half a billion” since 2020 as an illustrative figure [3]. If you include philanthropic lifetime grants from OSF globally, the number is in the tens of billions but represents philanthropic work, not direct campaign spending [4].
7. Bottom line and caveats
Available reporting consistently shows Soros is among the largest funders of Democratic-aligned causes, with headline figures including a $125 million super PAC donation [5], roughly $128 million in 2022 cycle individual donations, and broader nonprofit transfers and grants that push total political and allied spending into the hundreds of millions or more depending on scope [2] [1] [3] [4]. Exact totals depend on whether you count only FEC-reported campaign donations, nonprofit grants, or long-term philanthropic giving; different outlets choose different baselines, producing different headline numbers [3] [2].