On May 14, 2023, rumors began to spread across social media platforms that billionaire philanthropist George Soros had died.
The earliest post we found about the claim was a Twitter post written in Turkish. "SOROS, whose life was spent mixing Muslim countries and directing coups, died," the tweet said. "May my Lord fill his grave with fire and not give him a chance to rest in Hell even for a moment." (We translated the tweet using Twitter's Translate feature.)
Hayatı Müslüman ülkeleri karıştırmak ve darbeleri yönetmekle geçen SOROS öldü.
Rabbim kabrini ateşle doldursun ve cehennemde bir an bile dinlenme fırsatı vermesin.— Halil KONAKCI (@halil_konakci) May 14, 2023
On May 15, another Twitter post shared the more specific claim that Soros had died of a heart attack:
Rumors are circulating that George Soros just died of a heart attack
— Matt Wallace (@MattWallace888) May 15, 2023
We also found posts about the claim on social media platforms like Reddit, Facebook, and TikTok, in addition to Twitter, that cited an article from a source called the World Bulletin. World Bulletin's only source for the claim was a blog called "Politics For All Ireland." Using the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, we found the blog did not feature any content on its website. There was no indication the blog was a legitimate source for news.
But there was no evidence that Soros had died. "George Soros is alive and healthy," spokesperson Michael Vachon said when we reached out for comment about that claim. "He did not have a heart attack. Or any other health issue."
A message on his official Twitter account also denied the rumors.
"Rumors that I had a heart attack are completely false," the May 15 tweet said. "I am alive and healthy."
Rumors that I had a heart attack are completely false. I am alive and healthy.
— George Soros (@georgesoros) May 15, 2023
No reputable news publications had reported that Soros was dead. If the rumor had been true, Soros' death would have been widely reported and analyzed. Instead, we found reputable news publications fact-checking the false rumor.
We've previously fact-checked other rumors about Soros, including the claim that he had "gone missing" in Geneva.