he even owns my favorite brand of falafel

George Soros, billionaire philanthropist and anti-prohibitonist, has been nailed for insider trading by a French court.

Mr. Soros has made a ton of money speculating on world markets. Quantum Fund, the hedge fund he heads, has controlled as much as $110 billion at one time. His influence over markets is such that the New York Times has credited him with being able to increase the price of his investments simply by revealing that he has made them.

He's not been uncritical of money's influence, however. In The Capitalist Threat, he warned of how capital can undermine democratic values, claiming, "The main enemy of the open society, I believe, is no longer the communist but the capitalist threat."

Soros's projects include The Open Society Institute, and the Drug Policy Alliance. He has funded nearly every medical marijuana ballot measure in the US.

[some numbers yanked from David C. Korten's When Corporations Rule the World].