George Soros is investing $500MM to help refugees in ways governments can’t

I'm guessing Soros doesn't actually expect to make a great deal of money from these. It seems like by making an investment, he will help create a self-sustaining set of business solutions rather than a donation. There is reasonable evidence that "top-down" donations a la Jeffrey Sachs do not work, and that helping people build tools creates an incentive to tackle solvable problems first, then iterate until a reasonable patchwork set of solutions/companies are effective.

It's a good question. My thought would be this: If you give them a bunch of money, they are likely to enjoy it, but ultimately fritter it away. If you invest in / loan them a bunch of money, you've created an expectation in them that they need to do right by you. They will strive to make that money back and honor your largesse, which allowed them to get started in the first place. In so doing, they create wealth for themselves, their employees, and indeed, the philanthropist.

Basically, I doubt he cares a whit about the money, or losing it, but he thinks the motivations from an investment are more powerful and good than those from a gift.

This doesn't appear to be part of any strategy to increase his net worth:

"All of the investments we make will be owned by my nonprofit organization."

"They are intended to be successful—because I want to show how private capital can play a constructive role helping migrants—and any profits will go to fund programs at the Open Society Foundations, including programs that benefit migrants and refugees."

Open Society Foundations financially support civil society groups around the world, with a stated aim of advancing justice, education, public health and independent media. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Society_Foundations

Could be a PR scheme, makes him look good to be helping refugees, reality is, it is just 'business as usual.'