In the most recent Instagram photos of Huma Abedin and Alexander Soros you don’t see parties, beaches or plates of food. They are not like other couples. The last image of Soros, 38, is at a dinner in Munich for the Open Society Foundations, where he is giving the inaugural speech with Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission. While the most recent photos of Abedin, 49, show her at a party for a podcast about female leaders, giving a conference in Miami, at New York Fashion Week and on the red carpet at the Met Gala. However, you can no longer see the photo that they posted on their respective Instagram Stories, which disappeared within a few hours. That image showed the two of them together, holding each other by the waist, among red roses, boxes of jewels and heart decoration in a restaurant in Paris. The two celebrated Valentine’s Day together. With the image, the two — both powerful, rich Democrats deeply immersed in the highest circles of American power — showed that they have become the surprise new couple of the year. But perhaps it’s not such a big surprise.
Abedin and Soros are two of the most famous, yet discreet single people in high society on the East Coast. Rich, excellently connected, elegant and, now, dating. It was not until a few days ago that their relationship became public. Abedin — Hillary Clinton’s right-hand woman and “second daughter,” as the former Secretary of State likes to call her — is divorced from a controversial former congressman who was sentenced to prison. Soros — who manages a $25 billion fortune (and is heir to another $6.7 billion) and was until recently described by the U.S. press as a playboy — seems to have met his match. As sources familiar with the couple told Page Six, “It’s a classic Clinton world couple. Alex is the perfect match for Huma. He’s insanely wealthy and powerful — everything that Huma cares about.”
Both Abedin and Soros have been known in power circles for decades, especially among Democrats. But until now their romantic and personal lives had not made headlines, or least, not that often. Soros has been a public figure since birth. His father, the Hungarian business tycoon George Soros, 93, married twice and had five children: Robert, Andrea and Jonathan with Annaliese Witschak; and Alexander and Gregory with Susan Weber. He is now married to Tamiko Bolton.
His brother Jonathan Soros appeared the clear successor, but it was Alexander Soros who unexpectedly received the keys to the Soros empire last June in a twist worthy of Succession. Alexander Soros is now at the forefront of the family’s philanthropic work, which is managed through Open Society, which has $25 billion in assets. The organization donates an average of $1.5 billion a year.
Although George Soros, with a personal fortune of almost $7 billion, has supported Democrats for decades (in fact, he was among the top 10 donors to Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016, donating $10 million), Alexander has already made it clear that his investment path is going to be “more political” than his father, and that he intends to broaden his “liberal aims” by veering slightly more to the left, supporting campaigns such as gender equality and the right to abortion. To this end, he has met with part of the Biden administration, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Brazilian President Lula da Silva. It is common for him to post photos of himself with figures such as French President Emmanuel Macron, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and former U.S. president Barack Obama.
From an early age, Alexander Soros has moved in the world’s most exclusive circles and made good friends within them. His friends include Bill Clinton, with whom he has been close to for years. The two went on a pilgrimage to Rome last year to visit Pope Francis, who received them both in a private meeting at his residence in Santa Marta, in the Vatican. Chelsea Clinton, the only daughter of the former president, and her husband, Marc Mezvinsky, are from the same circle and close to Alexander, who they have described as “family” on social media.
And the same is true of Abedin. It is not clear where the new couple met, but it is clear that they move in the same waters. For years, Abedin has been one of Hillary Clinton’s closest aides. Abedin, the daughter of an Indian Muslim intellectual and a Pakistani academic, grew up in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. She returned to her native country at age 18 to study at George Washington University. At just 19 years old, she got a scholarship at the White House and ended up in the office of Hillary Clinton, who was then the first lady. Since then, the two have worked closely together. Abedin was her aide and then the vice chair of Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. In 2012, Time magazine named her one of the 40 most promising stars under 40 on the American political scene.
Her relationship with the presidential family is so close that it was Bill Clinton who officiated her marriage to then representative Anthony Weiner: “I have one daughter. But if I had a second daughter, it would [be] Huma,” said Hillary Clinton at the wedding.
Abedin met Weiner at — where else — a Democratic convention, and politics played a key role in their almost 15-year relationship (he tried to run for mayor of New York), in which they had a son, Jordan. In August 2016, in the middle of the election campaign, Weiner faced his second and most serious sexting scandal, which not only damaged his reputation, it also hurt Abedin’s and the Clintons’.
If the 2011 scandal had put the marriage on shaky ground, it was the 2016 sex scandal that pushed Abedin to ask for a divorce. Weiner had shared sexually suggestive photos of himself in the same bed as his son. In May 2017, the issue escalated and Weiner pleaded guilty to sending photographs of sexual content to a minor under the age of 15. In September, he was sentenced to 21 months in prison and served 18. In the fall of 2021, Abedin published a memoir, revealing that the scandal took such a hard toll on her, she had even considered suicide. Now, Abedin and Weiner are sometimes seen together with their son or at charity galas, where they usually have to deny rumors of a reconciliation.
Since then, Abedin has maintained a low profile. A fashion lover — if her career had not been in politics she would have gone into that sector — she is a good friend of Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine. In fact, it was Wintour who introduced Abedin and actor-director Bradley Cooper a couple of years ago in the hope of forging a romance. The relationship was short-lived, only lasting a few months during the summer of 2022, but that didn’t stop the press from rushing to call them “the new George and Amal Clooney.” Cooper is now dating model Gigi Hadid, but the two remain close friends.
The new relationship between Soros and Abedin is raising expectations, due to their lifestyles and common friends and interests. Some of her acquaintances told Page Six that they were excited about the relationship, especially after Abedin’s difficult divorce. “Huma’s certainly not your Park Avenue debutante — she’s more interesting and intelligent,” said the sources, who described Soros as a person with “a lot of business acumen.” “Years ago, he was a little dweeby. He didn’t have the gravitas of his dad then, but he has a lot of money and he’s unapologetic about it,” the source added.
Some Democratic donors who know Abedin also say that she “always wanted to be whatever the American version of royalty is.” Now it is within her grasp.
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