"The billionaire who built on chaos... who considers himself 'some kind of god'"

independent.co.uk

GEORGE Soros bills himself, without a hint of self-mockery, as a 'financial and philosophical speculator'. The grandiose label is a fitting choice for a man who as a child fantasised about being God and as an adult can tell reporters with a straight face: 'It is a sort of disease when you consider yourself some kind of god, the creator of everything, but I feel comfortable about it now since I began to live it out.'

The financial markets deified Mr Soros some time ago, but it was only with Black Wednesday, when his coolly-executed dollars 10bn punt against sterling helped to bring about one of the most spectacular reversals of economic policy forced on any British government, that he began to be widely regarded as a financial Superman.

Since then, there has been his celebrated plunge into gold, spending dollars 400m on a stake in Newmont Mining and triggering an enthusiasm for the metal not seen for several years. This new high profile means that his investments in the housebuilder Berkeley Group earlier this year and in British Land yesterday are seen as more significant than previous positions in UK quoted companies such as TV-am, LIG and MGM.

Born in Budapest in 1930, the younger son of a Jewish lawyer, he often attributes his success as a trader to the inflated sense of self given to him by a devoted father and a doting mother.