George Soros – the big bogeyman of America’s right-wing crackpots, and their offshoot conspiracy theories about paid protesters and the like.

Also, he happens to be an incredibly successful investor who has amassed a net worth of close to $40 billion, and is never shy about making bold predictions.

Business Insider looked at eight of his recent predictions, finding that he had been (mostly) correct in six of them.

Let’s start with his assertion that Democrats will win 2018 in a ‘landslide’:

Outcome: Kind of correct.

The Democrats took back control of the House, gaining 41 seats.

Nancy Pelosi reclaimed the title of Speaker of the House, but the Republicans maintained control of the Senate, picking up two seats.

Soros also predicted that Trump would not be re-elected in 2020, which remains to be seen.

Bitcoin is a bubble:

Outcome: Correct.

Bitcoin plunged 70% to a low of $3,136 in December 2018. It has since made somewhat of a recovery, more than doubling off its low, and now trades just below $8,000.

His words, not ours, Bitcoin believers.

The ‘days are numbered’ for Google and Facebook:

Outcome: Somewhat correct.

While both Facebook and Google still exist, both companies have come under severe pressure for privacy concerns related to their business models.

Facebook, in particular, has come under attacks from Congress for the way it was used as part of Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election.

I would disagree and say he’s wrong on that one. A stock price drop here and some bad PR there won’t stop either from ruling our lives going forward.

Let’s just get his other ‘correct’ predictions out of the way – Argentina will pay back its debts, Iran will undergo a ‘regime change’, and the British Government will devalue the pound.

Now for where he was wrong – The next financial crisis will be in China:

Outcome: Incorrect (at least so far).

China’s economy has slowed notably in 2018 and 2019, weighing on financial markets. However, there do not appear to be signs of a US-style crisis despite high corporate-debt levels.

The next financial crisis will be in Europe:

Outcome: Incorrect (at least so far).

European financial markets appear subdued with Italian 10-year yields at 2.7%, only slightly higher than the US 10-year yield of 2.4%.

You win some, you lose some.

We were once accused of being ‘Soros shills’ by some looney in the comments section. George, if you’re reading, we still haven’t received that money…

[source:businsider]