The Nobel Prize purse has gone up again. According to CCTV News, the 2026 Nobel Prizes will be announced from October 5 to 12. The Nobel Foundation has decided to raise the prize amount for each Nobel Prize this year by 1 million Swedish kronor, bringing it to 12 million Swedish kronor (about 8.15 million yuan). The Nobel Museum in Stockholm. (Photo by a Times Weekly reporter) As early as 2023, the prize for a single Nobel category had already risen from 10 million Swedish kronor to 11 million Swedish kronor, and this year it has once again set a new record high. Over the past 125 years, the Nobel Prize has been awarded to more than 1,000 laureates. Despite the continuously growing amounts, the prize money has not only failed to run out, but has instead grown larger.

More than 200-fold increase

In 1895, the Swedish chemist Nobel, then 63 years old, drew up a will to use his life savings to establish the Nobel Prize, in order to honor those who have made outstanding contributions to humanity. The following year, Nobel died. It was not until June 29, 1900, that the Nobel Foundation was formally established with the approval of the Swedish Parliament; in 1901, the Nobel Prize was awarded for the first time. The initial funds Nobel donated in his will amounted to only about 31 million Swedish kronor. Relying on that sum alone was clearly not enough to award prizes to more than 1,000 people over more than 100 years. But thanks to the Nobel Foundation's successful "money management" and operations over more than a century, according to its 2025 annual report, by the end of 2025 the Nobel Foundation's assets had reached 6.744 billion Swedish kronor, an increase of more than 200 times compared with the initial funds. At the same time, the Nobel Prize amounts have also continued to rise. The first laureates in 1901 received 150,000 Swedish kronor each. In 2020, the prize for a single Nobel category increased to 10 million Swedish kronor. Starting in 2023, the prize amount for a single Nobel category rose to 11 million Swedish kronor, and this year it has further risen to 12 million Swedish kronor. Today, the Nobel Prize is not only the world's most famous award, but also one of the most successfully operated investment awards in human history.

Why does it pay out more and more?

In fact, the Nobel Foundation's investments were initially rather conservative, mainly in low-risk products such as government bonds. Therefore, in the first 50 years after the Nobel Prize was established, the annual return on its assets was generally only 2%-3%. This single investment strategy made the Nobel Foundation's funds increasingly tight. Coupled with factors such as currency depreciation and inflation, by 1945 the real purchasing power of the prize for a single category had shrunk by more than 70% compared with 1901. The turning point came in the early 1950s, when the Swedish government lifted investment restrictions on the Nobel Foundation, allowing it to invest in stocks and real estate. The Nobel Foundation's investment strategy also gradually shifted from conservative to aggressive, from a single asset type to diversified allocation, and it continuously adjusted according to market conditions. For example, starting in the 1980s, the Nobel Foundation followed the U.S. stock market bull run in its investments. As U.S. stocks surged at the time, the foundation's returns also rose sharply. By the end of 1987, the total market value of the foundation's U.S. stock assets was as high as 1.287 billion Swedish kronor. By the end of 1999, the total market value of the Nobel Foundation's assets had reached 3.938 billion Swedish kronor. As assets increased, the Nobel Prize amounts also began to climb steadily: in 1981 the prize for each category was 1 million Swedish kronor, and by 2001 it had increased to 10 million Swedish kronor, remaining at that level for more than 10 years. But when markets performed poorly, the prize money also declined. In 2011, due to widespread weakness in global stock markets, the Nobel Foundation's stock investments lost more than 19 million Swedish kronor. Therefore, in 2012, the amount for each category was also reduced from 10 million Swedish kronor to 8 million Swedish kronor. However, as global stock markets improved, the prize amount rose again in 2017 to 9 million Swedish kronor. In addition to stocks, the foundation also began to increase investment in hedge funds. By the end of 2025, the foundation's invested capital allocation ratio was: equity funds 56%, alternative assets 22%, fixed-income assets and cash 13%, and real estate and infrastructure funds 8%. According to the Nobel Foundation's 2025 report, over the past five and ten years, the average annual return on the foundation's total investments was 7.7% and 7.6%, respectively. Obviously, through reasonable investment, the foundation has managed to pay out more and more in prize money. Lars Heikensten, a doctor of economics, once served as executive director of the Nobel Foundation. He said that managing the Nobel Fund is not merely about fulfilling Nobel's last wish, but is also a mission for all humanity. "As long as the Nobel Fund is managed well, it will be humanity's legacy."