George Soros said the Russian invasion of Ukraine could spark a third world war and perhaps lead to the end of mankind.
The 91-year-old, Hungarian-born billionaire, who survived the Nazi occupation of his home country during the Holocaust, warned of the rise of “repressive regimes.”
He told attendees of the forum in Davos that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping were the leaders of two countries who posed “the greatest threat to open society.”
“Other issues that concern all of humanity — fighting pandemics and climate change, avoiding nuclear war, maintaining global institutions — have had to take a back seat to that struggle,” the left-leaning, 91-year-old financier told the World Economic Forum at Davos on Tuesday.
“That’s why I say our civilization may not survive.”
Soros lashed out at Putin and Xi for their “mind-boggling mistakes.”
“Putin expected to be welcomed in Ukraine as a liberator,” Soros said. “Xi Jinping is sticking to a Zero Covid policy that can’t possibly be sustained.”
Soros also warned that China’s continued pandemic-related lockdowns will keep disrupting supply chains, which in turn will contribute to elevated levels of inflation.
He said the ongoing economic disruptions put the world at risk of a global depression.
Soros also expressed fear that China would use artificial intelligence to asset more control over its citizens.
“AI is particularly good at producing instruments of control that help repressive regimes and endanger open societies,” Soros said.
“Covid-19 also helped legitimize instruments of control because they are really useful in dealing with the virus.”
Soros’ comments were reported by Bloomberg News.
Soros, who has an estimated net worth of $8.5 billion, founded a philanthropic organization, the Open Society Foundations, which funds nongovernmental organizations promoting human rights and progressive politics.
