TURNING DOLLARS INTO CHANGE

Great philanthropists often follow a simple formula: 1) make billions of dollars in ways that stir controversy and occasional outpourings of ire; 2) give much of it away to marble-plaqued institutions like colleges and libraries so that public revulsion gradually melts into reverence.

George Soros got the first part right. As a detached and mysterious currency speculator, he made billions by moving markets in a manner that made him a whipping boy for besieged bankers and ministers. In one famous week in 1992, he made $1 billion betting against the British pound, earning him the grudging title of the Man Who...