George Soros, Democracy PAC, and the Open Society Foundations: Verified Funding and Legal Record
What federal election filings, IRS extracts and Open Society's own disclosures show about George Soros's political and philanthropic spending, which legal entities made the contributions, how the totals compare with the largest Republican donors in the same tables, and what the U.S. legal record does and does not contain.
FEC figures for the 2026 cycle are current through the Oct. 14, 2026, coverage date and are incomplete. OpenSecrets tables are for the 2020, 2022 and 2024 cycles. Other documents reviewed Nov. 13, 2026.
Who is who
- George Soros
- An individual contributor on FEC Schedule A, typically listed as chairman of Soros Fund Management LLC, New York.[1, 2]
- Democracy PAC (C00693382)
- A super PAC (independent expenditure-only). Treasurer Michael Vachon. First filed Jan. 3, 2019.[1]
- Democracy PAC II (C00786624)
- A super PAC (independent expenditure-only). Treasurer Michael Vachon. First filed Aug. 8, 2021.[2]
- Fund for Policy Reform
- Named on Schedule A as an organization contributor in Wilmington, Del. More than one tax-exempt organization uses a closely similar name. This report has not matched the FEC contributor to a specific employer identification number or Form 990 and does not attribute any 990 revenue figure to it.[1]
- Geosor Corporation
- Named on Schedule A as an organization contributor in New York. In 2024, its $10,000,000 contribution to Democracy PAC is memoed as earmarked, with a matching $10,000,000 Fund for Policy Reform conduit-total line. The two lines describe one contribution and are not added together.[1]
- Open Society Foundations
- A network of philanthropic entities founded by Soros. U.S. entities reviewed include the Foundation to Promote Open Society (EIN 26-3753801), the Open Society Institute (EIN 13-7029285) and the Open Society Policy Center Inc. (EIN 52-2028955), a 501(c)(4). The Foundation to Promote Open Society's 2024 extract lists George Soros as “Director And Chairman” with $0 in compensation, and Alexander Soros and Andrea E. Soros as directors at $0.[6, 7, 8, 9]
- Justice & Public Safety PAC (C00651505)
- A federal PAC with far smaller receipts than Democracy PAC: $2,085,356.33 in 2020, $625,219.27 in 2022, $744,226.19 in 2024 and $561,053.99 in the partial 2026 cycle. State and local prosecutor-race spending through other committees is not mapped in this report.[3]
Democracy PAC and Democracy PAC II
| Cycle | Receipts | Contributions | Disbursements | Cash on hand, end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $81,378,923.30 | $81,320,002.62 | $81,073,439.05 | $305,484.25 |
| 2022 | $25,301,529.41 | $25,243,714.96 | $25,329,234.21 | $277,779.45 |
| 2024 | $71,615,657.96 | $70,002,500.00 | $68,154,497.94 | $3,738,939.47 |
| 2026 (partial, through Oct. 14, 2026) | $102,766,684.76 | $102,000,000.00 | $49,103,371.58 | $57,402,252.65 |
Source: FEC committee totals; 2026 coverage ends Oct. 14, 2026.[1]
| Cycle | Fund for Policy Reform | Geosor Corporation | George Soros, personally | Contributions total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $75,500,002.62 (12 contributions) | None | $5,820,000.00 | $81,320,002.62 |
| 2022 | $25,000,000.00 (Feb. 18, 2022) | None | $243,714.96 (nine contributions in 2021) | $25,243,714.96 |
| 2024 | $60,000,000.00 (Jan. 11, 2024) | $10,000,000.00 (Sept. 19, 2024, earmarked) | $2,500.00 | $70,002,500.00 |
| 2026 (partial) | $50,000,000.00 (Jan. 13, 2026) | $52,000,000.00 (Jan. 2, 2025) | None | $102,000,000.00 |
Source: FEC itemized receipts.[1] In 2024 a $10,000,000 Fund for Policy Reform conduit-total line duplicates the Geosor earmark and is not counted twice. Other receipts are refunds and investment gains, including $1,257,073.80 recorded as “GAIN ON INVESTMENT” from Global Oak Holdings LLC in 2024.
In the 2020 cycle, the two named sources, Fund for Policy Reform and Soros personally, add to exactly $81,320,002.62, the committee's contributions total. Soros's personal 2020-cycle contributions were dated from Feb. 13, 2019 ($100,000) and June 7, 2019 ($5,000,000) through Oct. 16, 2020. No personal Soros contribution appears in the 2026-cycle receipts retrieved through Oct. 14, 2026.[1]
| Cycle | Receipts | Contributions | Disbursements | Cash on hand, end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | $155,869,426.51 | $175,000,095.82 | $17,517,031.62 | $138,352,394.89 |
| 2024 | $1,515,613.62 | $0.00 | $13,853,210.80 | $126,014,797.71 |
| 2026 (partial, through Oct. 14, 2026) | $3,247,571.49 | $0.00 | $13,954,465.11 | $115,307,904.09 |
Source: FEC committee totals.[2]
George Soros personally contributed $175,000,000 to Democracy PAC II: $125,000,000 on Sept. 9, 2021, and $50,000,000 on Nov. 21, 2022. The committee did not spend that sum in 2022. It reported $17,517,031.62 in 2022-cycle disbursements and $138,352,394.89 cash on hand at the end of 2022, and still held $115,307,904.09 as of Oct. 14, 2026. The 2022 contributions line, $175,000,095.82, is higher than the receipts line, $155,869,426.51; the same cycle's Schedule A also records dividend income from iShares and SPDR funds, and the FEC's two official lines are both reported here as filed. Later cycles show no new Soros or Fund for Policy Reform contributions, only investment gains, tax refunds and interest.[2]
Open Society: grantmaking and IRS extracts
Open Society's own figures. The network says that “for over three decades” it has had expenditures of more than $24 billion, listing $24.2 billion in expenditures to date and $1.2 billion in total 2024 expenditures. Its November 2025 fact sheet says Soros “since 1984 has given to the Foundations over $32 billion of a personal fortune made in the financial markets” and that the foundations “have endowment assets of $23 billion.”[5, 6]
The fact sheet's 2024 expenditures by Open Society's own regional categories: Africa, $69.9 million; Asia Pacific, $26.0 million; Europe and Central Asia, $83.7 million; Latin America and the Caribbean, $117.1 million; Middle East and North Africa, $19.4 million; United States, $242.0 million; Global, $631.9 million. These categories add to about $1.19 billion, consistent with the rounded $1.2 billion total. They are self-reported and are not a substitute for each U.S. entity's tax return.[6]
| Year | Revenue | Expenses | Charitable disbursements | Net assets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $935,043,439 | $460,769,902 | $503,984,141 | $10,603,942,821 |
| 2023 | $842,821,637 | $874,683,497 | $775,088,667 | $10,199,669,983 |
| 2022 | $677,301,845 | $478,664,220 | $491,259,531 | $10,372,832,499 |
| 2021 | $2,059,390,609 | $2,405,888,357 | $678,191,487 | $11,470,021,155 |
| 2020 | $1,306,781,594 | $652,770,595 | $598,968,477 | $12,021,603,821 |
Source: IRS extracts via ProPublica.[7]
| Year | Revenue | Expenses | Charitable disbursements | Net assets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $396,477,106 | $295,896,735 | $266,781,131 | $4,699,515,428 |
| 2023 | $436,327,089 | $390,477,522 | $404,847,943 | $4,540,940,298 |
| 2022 | $564,227,312 | $364,425,841 | $364,263,413 | $4,523,238,338 |
| 2021 | $988,350,898 | $556,436,293 | $452,291,162 | $5,118,059,995 |
| 2020 | $526,468,189 | $379,422,137 | $280,950,587 | $3,194,406,884 |
Source: IRS extracts via ProPublica.[8]
| Year | Revenue | Contributions | Expenses | Net assets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $157,180,674 | $157,100,000 | $178,663,592 | $6,311,803 |
| 2023 | $257,005,378 | $257,000,000 | $246,246,513 | $27,503,596 |
| 2022 | $240,000,000 | $240,000,000 | $205,511,896 | $16,096,415 |
| 2021 | $196,000,000 | $196,000,000 | $206,669,929 | Not extracted |
| 2020 | $139,000,000 | $139,000,000 | $144,593,206 | Not extracted |
Source: IRS extracts via ProPublica.[9] OSPC is the principal U.S. 501(c)(4) advocacy entity in this set. Foundation disbursements are not federal campaign contributions.
What is documented and what is not mapped
- Documented: federal super PAC funding through Democracy PAC and Democracy PAC II, by contributor name, in the tables above.[1, 2]
- Documented at the network and entity level: philanthropy, including Open Society's $1.2 billion in 2024 expenditures, $242.0 million of it attributed to the United States, and 990-PF charitable disbursements of each U.S. foundation. Individual grantees are not listed here.[6, 7, 8]
- Not mapped: state and local prosecutor-race spending through state committees. The federal Justice & Public Safety PAC's receipts are small relative to Democracy PAC; a full map of state-level committees was not completed, and this report does not estimate it.[3]
- Not mapped: media and nonprofit grants by name.
Same-source comparison with other mega-donors
The tables below use one source for every donor: OpenSecrets's “Biggest Donors in Federal Elections.” OpenSecrets ranks individuals and couples, not the organizations they fund. That is why Soros ranks first in 2022, when he personally gave $175 million to Democracy PAC II, and far lower in 2020 and 2024, when most Democracy PAC money came from Fund for Policy Reform and Geosor Corporation. Both facts are reported here: the individual ranking and the committee-level receipts. Totals do not always equal the party columns, as OpenSecrets publishes them.[10, 11, 12, 1]
| Rank | Donor (as listed) | Total | Hard money | Outside money | To Democrats | To Republicans |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adelson, Sheldon G. & Miriam O. | $218,168,500 | $3,068,500 | $215,100,000 | $0 | $218,148,500 |
| 2 | Bloomberg, Michael R. | $152,509,750 | $923,304 | $151,586,446 | $151,959,750 | $0 |
| 3 | Steyer, Thomas & Taylor, Kathryn Ann | $72,119,974 | $2,124,829 | $69,995,145 | $71,444,975 | $0 |
| 4 | Uihlein, Richard & Elizabeth | $68,314,982 | $3,297,882 | $65,017,100 | $0 | $68,316,082 |
| 5 | Griffin, Kenneth C. | $67,423,384 | $1,173,384 | $66,250,000 | $650 | $67,417,734 |
| 6 | Mellon, Timothy | $60,097,555 | $92,000 | $60,005,555 | $2,800 | $60,094,755 |
| 35 | Soros, George | $9,148,643 | $2,103,643 | $7,045,000 | $9,135,243 | $0 |
Source: OpenSecrets, 2020 cycle.[10] Democracy PAC's 2020 receipts were $81,378,923.30, including $75,500,002.62 from Fund for Policy Reform and $5,820,000 from Soros personally.[1]
| Rank | Donor (as listed) | Total | Hard money | Outside money | To Democrats | To Republicans |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Soros, George | $178,820,550 | $2,067,837 | $176,752,713 | $178,810,550 | $0 |
| 2 | Uihlein, Richard & Elizabeth A. | $89,775,939 | $3,329,924 | $86,446,015 | $0 | $89,760,939 |
| 3 | Griffin, Kenneth C. | $72,650,100 | $1,600,100 | $71,050,000 | $2,900 | $72,656,600 |
| 4 | Yass, Jeffrey S. & Janine | $56,321,500 | $80,100 | $56,241,400 | $0 | $49,125,100 |
| 5 | Bloomberg, Michael R. | $50,278,825 | $49,800 | $50,229,025 | $49,528,825 | $0 |
| 6 | Mellon, Timothy | $41,746,515 | $46,515 | $41,700,000 | $10,700 | $41,735,815 |
| 15 | Adelson, Sheldon G. & Miriam O. | $25,065,900 | $65,900 | $25,000,000 | $0 | $25,065,900 |
Source: OpenSecrets, 2022 cycle.[11] Soros's total includes his $175,000,000 to Democracy PAC II.[2]
| Rank | Donor (as listed) | Total | Hard money | Outside money | To Democrats | To Republicans |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Musk, Elon | $291,482,587 | $1,063,000 | $290,419,587 | $0 | $291,482,587 |
| 2 | Mellon, Timothy | $197,047,200 | $43,900 | $197,003,300 | −$2,900 | $172,042,500 |
| 3 | Adelson, Miriam O. | $148,304,900 | $4,254,900 | $144,050,000 | $0 | $148,294,900 |
| 4 | Uihlein, Richard & Elizabeth A. | $143,498,936 | $4,030,935 | $139,468,001 | $0 | $143,463,906 |
| 5 | Griffin, Kenneth C. | $108,402,284 | $1,402,284 | $107,000,000 | $0 | $108,402,184 |
| 6 | Yass, Jeffrey S. & Janine | $101,128,680 | $960,399 | $100,168,281 | $1,500 | $100,322,180 |
| 8 | Bloomberg, Michael R. | $64,339,734 | $752,950 | $63,586,784 | $60,839,734 | $1,000,000 |
Source: OpenSecrets, 2024 cycle.[12, 13] George Soros does not appear on the 2024 individual list. Democracy PAC's 2024 contributions of $70,002,500 came from Fund for Policy Reform ($60,000,000), Geosor Corporation ($10,000,000) and Soros personally ($2,500).[1]
| Cycle | Receipts | Contributions | Disbursements | Independent expenditures | Cash on hand, end |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $263,494,648.67 | $261,527,030.67 | $261,272,000.28 | $173,734,996.50 | $2,222,648.39 |
| 2026 (partial, through Oct. 14, 2026) | $215,977,673.63 | $215,965,816.46 | $171,687,764.50 | $51,436,851.03 | $46,512,557.52 |
Source: FEC committee totals.[4] Schedule A is dominated by “MUSK, ELON” lines, including in-kind “petition incentives” that also appear under a second name with attribution memos; a personal Musk subtotal is not computed here because of that double-count risk.
What the same-source tables show
- In 2022, OpenSecrets ranked Soros the largest individual federal donor, at $178,820,550, ahead of Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein ($89,775,939) and Kenneth Griffin ($72,650,100).[11]
- In 2024, Elon Musk ranked first at $291,482,587, followed by Timothy Mellon, Miriam Adelson, the Uihleins and Griffin, all above $100 million. Soros was not on the individual list; Democracy PAC still reported $71,615,657.96 in 2024-cycle receipts, almost all from Fund for Policy Reform and Geosor Corporation.[12, 13, 1]
- In 2020, Sheldon and Miriam Adelson ranked first at $218,168,500, while Soros's personal total was $9,148,643, 35th, as Democracy PAC raised $81.4 million, mostly from Fund for Policy Reform.[10, 1]
- Open Society's grantmaking, $1.2 billion in 2024 expenditures by its own account, is a different legal channel from federal super PAC contributions and is not part of these rankings.[6]
What this does not show
- A U.S. criminal charge, indictment, plea or conviction of George Soros. None was located in the records reviewed.
- The text of the French judgment or the 2011 European Court of Human Rights ruling, which could not be retrieved for this report.
- A complete map of state and local prosecutor-race spending, or named grantees of each Open Society entity.
- Which tax-exempt entity, by EIN, is the “Fund for Policy Reform” of Wilmington, Del., on FEC filings.
- A finding about influence over any party. The figures above are contributions and grants as filed; readers can compare them in the same-source tables.
Sources and records
Numbers in brackets in the text refer to the entries below. Each entry links to the document itself or, where the live page blocks automated retrieval, to a dated Internet Archive copy of the same official file.
Federal Election Commission filings
- Democracy PAC, committee C00693382: filings, cycle totals and itemized receipts (FEC data, retrieved through the Commission's API Nov. 13, 2026). Federal Election Commission, Coverage through Oct. 14, 2026. www.fec.gov/data/committee/C00693382 (opens the source in a new tab)
- Democracy PAC II, committee C00786624: filings, cycle totals and itemized receipts. Federal Election Commission, Coverage through Oct. 14, 2026. www.fec.gov/data/committee/C00786624 (opens the source in a new tab)
- Justice & Public Safety PAC, committee C00651505: cycle totals. Federal Election Commission, Coverage through Oct. 14, 2026. www.fec.gov/data/committee/C00651505 (opens the source in a new tab)
- America PAC, committee C00879510: cycle totals and itemized receipts. Federal Election Commission, Coverage through Oct. 14, 2026. www.fec.gov/data/committee/C00879510 (opens the source in a new tab)
Open Society disclosures and IRS extracts
- Financials. Open Society Foundations, Accessed Nov. 13, 2026. www.opensocietyfoundations.org/who-we-are/financials (opens the source in a new tab)
- Fact sheet: The Open Society Foundations and George Soros. Open Society Foundations, Nov. 10, 2025. www.opensocietyfoundations.org/uploads/7f9bc3e3-d20f-4bef-a64e-162c6cc844bd/factsheet-osf_and_george_soros-english-20251110.pdf (opens the source in a new tab)
- Foundation to Promote Open Society, EIN 26-3753801 (Form 990-PF extracts). ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, Accessed Nov. 13, 2026. projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/263753801 (opens the source in a new tab)
- Open Society Institute, EIN 13-7029285 (Form 990-PF extracts). ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, Accessed Nov. 13, 2026. projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/137029285 (opens the source in a new tab)
- Open Society Policy Center Inc., EIN 52-2028955 (Form 990 extracts). ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, Accessed Nov. 13, 2026. projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/522028955 (opens the source in a new tab)
Donor rankings
- Biggest Donors in Federal Elections, 2020 cycle. OpenSecrets, Accessed Nov. 13, 2026. www.opensecrets.org/elections-overview/biggest-donors?cycle=2020 (opens the source in a new tab)
- Biggest Donors in Federal Elections, 2022 cycle. OpenSecrets, Accessed Nov. 13, 2026. www.opensecrets.org/elections-overview/biggest-donors?cycle=2022 (opens the source in a new tab)
- Biggest Donors in Federal Elections, 2024 cycle. OpenSecrets, Accessed Nov. 13, 2026. www.opensecrets.org/elections-overview/biggest-donors?cycle=2024 (opens the source in a new tab)
- Elon Musk tops list of 2024 political donors, but six others gave more than $100 million. OpenSecrets, March 2025. www.opensecrets.org/news/2025/03/elon-musk-tops-list-of-2024-political-donors-but-six-others-gave-more-than-100-million (opens the source in a new tab)
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