Who teceived money from george soros?
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Executive summary
George Soros is a major philanthropist and political donor who has given more than $32 billion to the Open Society Foundations and has directly funded political committees and candidates through vehicles including Democracy PAC and individual contributions; for example, Open Society gave large grants and Soros personally donated millions to U.S. political committees such as Democracy PAC II ($125 million initial gift in 2022) and to state parties like the Wisconsin Democratic Party ($1–$2 million reported) [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. Who received Soros’s money: parties, PACs, foundations and candidates
Soros gives in multiple ways: he funds his private grantmaker, the Open Society Foundations, which disperses grants worldwide (OSF has spent over $24.2 billion and Soros has given the foundation more than $32 billion overall) and he has also funded explicit U.S. political vehicles. Democracy PAC and Democracy PAC II — super PACs created to support Democratic-aligned organizations — have been major recipients; Democracy PAC II received a $125 million initial donation from Soros in 2022 and both PACs have routed money to groups like Senate Majority PAC, Planned Parenthood Votes and BlackPAC [1] [2] [2].
2. Examples of state and local-level flows: Wisconsin and prosecutors
At the state level, reporting shows Soros gave directly to state party organizations that then supported candidates: he donated $1 million (reported) to the Wisconsin state Democratic Party in one account and another report cites $2 million to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin that later flowed to a judicial candidate’s campaign; major conservative outlets and campaigns highlight these gifts in reporting on hotly contested races [3] [4]. Separately, journalists and advocacy groups have traced tens of millions spent on local prosecutor races — a long-term effort to elect prosecutors favoring alternatives to incarceration — which has drawn both praise and criticism [5] [6].
3. How money is sometimes routed: direct gifts vs. intermediaries
Soros’s giving operates through both direct political donations and grants that move through intermediary nonprofits and PACs. Open Society Foundations’ grantmaking can support organizations that in turn fund advocacy or civic groups; super PACs like Democracy PACs accept unlimited donations and then redistribute to other national and state political groups. OpenSecrets notes that some disclosed totals reflect individual or PAC donations of $200 or more and that organizations themselves cannot directly give to candidates in the same way individuals can, so money often flows through legally distinct entities before reaching campaigns or advocacy groups [7] [8] [2].
4. Scale and substance: the numbers cited in reporting
Public filings and reporting give a sense of scale: Soros has transferred very large sums to his foundation (more than $32 billion overall; OSF expenditures exceed $24.2 billion) and committed huge sums to political vehicles — notably a $125 million initial donation to Democracy PAC II and tens of millions to prosecutor-focused efforts over the past decade, according to news investigations [1] [2] [5] [6]. OpenSecrets and FEC-derived pages catalog individual and PAC-level recipients for the 2024 cycle and beyond [9] [7].
5. Competing perspectives and the politics of disclosure
Sources show disagreement about intent and effects. Supporters frame Soros’s spending as philanthropy and democratic engagement — funding justice reform, human-rights groups and pro-democracy causes via OSF [1] [10]. Critics — especially on the right — portray the funding as partisan interference or as backing “pro-criminal” policies when it targets prosecutor races, and some advocacy groups and outlets track and criticize those flows [5] [6]. FactCheck and OpenSecrets provide data-driven descriptions of where money moved; partisan outlets add interpretive frames [2] [11].
6. What the available sources do not say
Available sources do not provide a single exhaustive, up-to-the-minute list of every individual or micro-recipient of Soros’s funds across all years; they instead offer snapshots — FEC/OpenSecrets rollups for election cycles, OSF grant totals, investigative reports on targeted programs, and state reporting on specific transfers [9] [7] [1] [5]. For a definitive, line-by-line roster of recipients in any given year, consult FEC filings, OpenSecrets’ donor lookup, and OSF’s grant database cited above [9] [7] [1].
7. How to check specific claims and follow the money yourself
To verify whether Soros gave to a particular person or group, use: OpenSecrets’ donor lookup and Soros Fund Management recipient pages (FEC-based data for donations ≥$200), public FEC filings and OSF grant disclosures; journalists and watchdogs also publish maps and tracking reports on specialized efforts like prosecutor funding [9] [7] [6]. These sources show both direct donations and the intermediary routes commonly used in U.S. campaign finance [8].
Limitations: this summary relies on the provided materials and points readers to the primary data sources (OpenSecrets, FEC filings, OSF disclosures, and investigative reporting) for granular, case-by-case verification [9] [7] [1] [2].