Days after 80-year-old conservative mega-financier Bob Perry died, the Reuters news agency erroneously posted an obituary for George Soros, his liberal counterpart.
“George Soros, who died XXX at age XXX, was a predatory and hugely successful financier and investor, who argued paradoxically for years against the same sort of free-wheeling capitalism that made him billions,” it said on its website Thursday.
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News agencies routinely prepare obituaries for living persons, and Mr. Soros is still alive at 82.
Describing him as “an enigma, wrapped in intellect, contradiction and money,” the obit paints Mr. Soros as a financier in the style of the cut-throat Wall Street types often blamed for the financial collapse, and indicates that his support of big-government policies went against his ability to earn money.
“Forbes put his wealth in 2013 at $19 billion, making him the world’s 30th richest person, not counting the roughly $8 billion he has given away through various charitable entities he controls,” Reuters wrote, yet “he has argued nevertheless for strong central government regulation to correct for and counterbalance the excesses of greed, fear and the free market.”
It highlights his donations to liberal causes, saying “in a bid to stop Bush’s re-election, Soros donated $23.5 million to more than 500 liberal and progressive groups during the 2003-2004 U.S. election cycle.”
Mr. Soros is still widely cast as a liberal boogeyman by conservatives, but that assertion is incorrect in the modern day. In recent years, he has been largely inactive in Democratic fundraising, while much lesser-known figures have filled his shoes.
“Reuters published an obituary of George Soros in error. Reuters withdrew the article as soon as it appeared,” the agency said on Twitter.
