AFAIK his holdings in 2008 got bailed out, saving his financial empire from destruction.
Frankly, I don't care what Buffet or Soros say and I don't see how they could have earned the money if not with corruption, insider trading, you name it ...
Very unlike start-up founders where you exactly know why they got the money...
Buffett is a long term investor. Soros is a currency speculator who sometimes manipulates markets to his own advantage. Could not be more different in terms of their methods. That said Soros has repeatedly proposed simple legal changes to put him and his kind out of business, but while it's legal and profitable to do what he does, he does it.
Moreover Berkshire Hathaway is in the insurance business, and life insurance is a way of circumventing the estate tax.
Not surprisingly, buffet is an advocate of estate taxes.
As for Soros, he is well known for manipulating the price of the pound. It's often lauded as a 'brilliant move' but the net effect of what he did was to screw over poor and middle-class britons.
Depends on your POV. The BOE was manipulating its currency by trying to keep it stable and thus overvalued compared to other European currencies. Soros' fund forced the BOE to give up on that endeavour and let the pound find its fair value.
http://www.wallstreetmanna.com/2009/11/warren-buffett-loves-...
or this:
http://truthingold.blogspot.com/2011/08/think-buffet-investm...
Not sure about 2009, but look here, they carry $30 billion in cash assets:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bs?s=BRK-A+Balance+Sheet&annual
It is hard to say how much of his success is due to his skill and how much of it is survivor bias (with him being the lucky lucky survivor). It's a neat issue.