In 1895, the Swedish chemist Nobel established the Nobel Prize, using his lifetime of 31 million Swedish kronor (about 9.7 million US dollars) as a prize to reward people who have made significant contributions to physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and world peace.
In 1901, the Nobel Prize was awarded for the first time, with a single prize of 150,000 Swedish kronor, equivalent to the salary of a university professor for 20 years, and now the individual prize is as high as 10 million Swedish kronor.
The Nobel Prize has become the highest honor in the scientific community, and the winner can not only receive world-renowned honors, but also generous prize money. Amazingly, the original capital of SEK 31 million has become 4.2 billion, and the prize money is still increasing.
Why did Nobel choose to give a legacy to someone he didn't know, rather than to his own loved ones? This story begins with the career of Nobel, a veteran "tech nerd" and successful entrepreneur.
Do you know? The origin of the Nobel Prize is actually a story about chemists. In this field, the contact is the unknown territory of human beings, and the fear of the unknown is usually suffocating, and the danger is very great, and chemists really have their heads tied to their trouser belts to do scientific research, and they want to see God if they are not careful.
During the period from 1840 to 1900, that is, the decades when the Qing Dynasty was about to fall, the country was busy fighting the Opium War, engaging in the Westernization Movement, and tossing the reform and reform of the law, while the Western world in which Nobel lived, with the continuous development of the industrial revolution, all kinds of new technologies and new inventions were like cutting leeks, one stubble after another, and medicine, physics, mathematics, and chemistry developed in an all-round way.
Therefore, Nobel decided to use his wealth to reward those who have made significant contributions to human society, rather than leaving it to his loved ones.
Nobel was born on the eve of the Opium War in China, the son of a man who was passionate about inventing and researching explosives. Therefore, Nobel's later outstanding achievements in the field of chemistry can be said to be the traditional skills of the Lao Nuo family.
At that time, the chemists of that era had a very difficult scientific research environment, lacked labor insurance measures and safety systems, and had zero compensation for accidents. Whether or not a scientific breakthrough can be achieved depends entirely on fate, Nobel's father was blown up while studying chemistry and became disabled, and his younger brother died directly because of explosives**.
Lao Nuo's family is the only one who is left with Nobel, and life is fearful, like walking on thin ice. Perhaps blessed by his brother's spirit in heaven, although Nobel had worked with explosives and dangerous industries all his life, he had no accidents.
Not only did he succeed in inventing modern explosives, but he also rose to become the richest scientist in Europe with patent fees. Later, he invested in factories in Western countries, served as CEO, and reached the pinnacle of his life, and his business ran well, from arms manufacturing to soap and clothing, he could make money on anything he invested.
Although Nobel has achieved great success in the money field, he has not been able to achieve satisfactory emotions and lives a life of "wifeless imprisonment" with no children to accompany him.
His invention, explosives, was originally intended to open mountains and build roads to achieve love and peace, but in the end it was used by people to make **, causing countless lives to be destroyed, which is undoubtedly a sin.
As a result, in his later years, Nobel began to devote himself to improving the conditions for scientific research, hoping to use his wealth to help future generations of scientists. This man is both the richest man in science and the most science-savvy of the rich, inspiring generations of scientists with his legacy.
To this day, the Nobel Prize is still regarded as the supreme honor in various fields. For some small countries, Nobel laureates have even become a symbol of their country, such as Nobel Prize-winning García Márquez, whose work "One Hundred Years of Solitude" has greatly increased the popularity of the small Caribbean country of Colombia.
Although the creation of the Nobel Prize was met with skepticism and opposition at the time, this great project was finally implemented. This is because no matter how good a plan is, if it is not supported by actual actions, then it can only be empty talk.
In Sweden at the end of the 19th century, it was widely believed that if a person had a large amount of wealth, he should leave it to his close relatives or donate it to ** or charity for the benefit of the people.
However, Nobel broke with this conventional wisdom and decided to award his wealth to people he had never met, even foreigners and people from hostile countries. This decision caused widespread controversy and criticism at the time, with people accusing Nobel of not having patriotic sentiments and using his wealth to finance the scientific and technological development and social progress of foreign countries.
There are even some conspiracy theorists who question the possibility of a transfer of interests in the selection process. However, Nobel did not change his decision because of these criticisms and doubts, and he firmly believed that the spread of knowledge and technology knows no borders and that everyone should have the opportunity to share the results.
Eventually, his perseverance and determination won the respect and support of the people, and the Nobel Prize was created and continues to be carried forward.
The boycott came mainly from Nobel's relatives. Nobel left a fortune of more than 30 million Swedish kronor, but in his will, only 1 million Swedish kronor was distributed to his relatives, much to the anger of those relatives who tried to divide the huge inheritance.
They have repeatedly stressed to the public that they have a close relationship with Nobel, and that Nobel will not leave only a small part of his property to himself under any circumstances. At the same time, they also considered the trustee appointed by Nobel to be unreliable, questioned the trustee's attempt to obtain a huge fortune, and tampered with Nobel's will.
In addition, because Nobel's business territory spanned several countries and covered many industries, monetizing all of these assets was a large and complex project, involving many legal, tax and technological issues, making it extremely difficult to realize a will.
After several years of fermentation, Europe has paid in-depth attention to the dispute over the Nobel will, and the wrestling between all parties has intensified. In Stockholm, the incident has become the focus of after-dinner chatter, and members of the Swedish parliament often use it as a topic to attack political opponents who support the creation of the Nobel Prize.
Eventually, the inheritance dispute was submitted to the then King of Sweden. Fortunately, the trustee entrusted by Nobel during his lifetime was conscientious, and with its influence and social resources, it gathered professionals in the political, financial, technological and legal fields to resolve the will dispute.
Years of hard work were not in vain, and in 1898 the King of Sweden recognized Nobel's will and regulated the constitution of the Nobel Society. The first Nobel Prize was successfully awarded in 1901.
Since then, this award, which has had a profound impact on scientific and technological progress, has officially appeared on the stage of history.
From the very beginning, the Nobel Prize was faced with a daunting task: how to make the Nobel Prize a long-lasting project. In short, it is hoped that it will continue to be awarded.
Any elementary school student will understand that this is an extremely challenging task. You know, the average lifespan of many large companies is only a few decades, and the Nobel Prize Club hopes to build a sustainable and profitable organization by relying only on professional managers, which is tantamount to a dream.
Since its inaugural award in 1901, the Nobel Prize has been questioned. The individual prize money of the Nobel Prize has been decreasing year by year, until 1923, when the individual prize has been reduced to 11SEK 50,000.
Not only did the amount of the prize money decrease, but it was also affected by factors such as the depreciation of the Swedish krona and inflation, and the real purchasing power of the prize money was greatly reduced.
In the face of a long-term predicament, the managers of the Nobel Prize have not lost confidence, but have looked for opportunities for change in a difficult environment. They took a series of steps to finally achieve this seemingly elusive goal.
* The initial capital of the association was more than 31 million Swedish kronor, and Nobel stipulated in his will that the principal could not be used, and that the interest accrued was about $200,000 per year for the awarding of the prize.
At the same time, Nobel also stipulates that the first will not be able to use the principal for riskier investment methods, such as real estate and private equity, and can only use prudent investment strategies such as bank deposits and the purchase of treasury bonds.
However, this overly conservative investment strategy not only protects the society from big risks, but also limits the growth of returns, and even puts the Nobel Prize at risk of bankruptcy for a time.
In 1901, the Nobel Prize was first awarded with a prize of 150,000 Swedish kronor, which may not seem like much today, but university professors at the time had to work hard for 20 years to earn it.
Amazingly, the prize money for the Nobel Prize has not shrunk, but has increased year by year, from SEK 6 million in 1991 to SEK 10 million (US$1.4 million) in 2021.
This means that the Nobel Prize has been issued several times the amount of the original prize. The method of awarding is also very simple, if there is only one winner of a certain award, then he will receive the full prize money.
For example, Mo Yan, as the only Chinese writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, won a single prize of 8 million Swedish kronor, equivalent to 7.5 million yuan.
If more than one person wins, the prize money needs to be divided evenly according to the distribution ratio. For example, if two people win a prize, it is split 1:1 equally; If three people win prizes, they will be distributed according to the ratio of 2:1:1, for example, in the 2015 Nobel Prize in Medicine, Tu Youyou received 4 million Swedish kronor, and the other two winners shared the other 4 million Swedish kronor equally.
In fact, the original intention of the Nobel Prize was that the prize money should be enough to support a scientist to devote himself to scientific research for 20 years, without worrying about his livelihood.
Interestingly, among the winners over the years, some have used the prize money to buy a house, pay off debts, and travel, and some have given the prize money to their ex-wives like Albert Einstein, and there are all sorts of things.
Overall, though, the Nobel Prize has been awarded for more than 120 years, and it seems to be endless, and more and more.
To put it simply, the Nobel Prize money** is very unique in that it relies on bank interest. In the beginning, the Nobel Prize** will adopt a relatively conservative and low-risk financial management method, that is, deposit the prize money in the bank and enjoy interest income every year.
Although the interest is only 3%, this is more than enough to cover the payout of the bonus. However, by 1951, the Nobel Prize was almost depleted, and why?
There are three main reasons. First of all, financial management methods are too conservative, and the 3% interest cannot keep up with the pace of inflation. Secondly, the operating costs are very high, and the expenses incurred exceed the revenue.
Finally, the tax burden is heavier, which also brings a lot of economic pressure to the society. In short, the Nobel Prize money** seems simple, but in fact it has to face many complex economic issues.
*There will be a need to continuously innovate and improve financial management methods to ensure the continuous and stable payment of bonuses.
In 1901, 150,000 kroner was enough to pay a professor for 20 years. However, by 1923, after World War I, its purchasing power had shrunk considerably due to inflation, amounting to only seven to eight years' salary for a professor.
More importantly, Nobel himself did not approve of acquiring wealth through financial means, so he clearly stipulated in his will that ** would not be able to obtain income through **, etc.
It will operate according to his requirements for many years, but it will be on the verge of bankruptcy several times due to the rising management and operating expenses. In addition to bonuses, the club will also need to hire the world's top experts to manage the operating funds, and the remuneration of these experts will naturally rise.
In some years, the management and operational costs of the club even exceeded the bonuses awarded.
Sweden has cleverly used tax policy to bring unexpected income to the Nobel Prize. In the first few years of the Nobel Prize, Sweden set a tax rate of 10%, and during the war it was even as high as 15%, so that the Nobel Prize would have to pay a higher tax than the prize.
However, the ** Club did not go bankrupt because of this, but achieved a counterattack in the face of adversity. In 1946, Sweden provided tax exemptions for the Nobel Prize Society, and allowed the Nobel Prize Club to invest independently, whether in the real estate market or private equity, as long as it can make money, it will have enough freedom to achieve.
At the same time, the IRS has also provided preferential policies for the Nobel Prize, exempting the high taxes generated by the investment in the United States. The implementation of these policies has provided strong support for the development of the Nobel Prize, making it one of the most influential and authoritative awards in the world.
In the investment world, Nobel will be like a fish in water, betting in an all-round way, and blooming more. Taking advantage of the economic development after World War II, a number of investment projects of the ** Association have achieved returns beyond expectations.
After 1980, the United States as a whole, the decade-long bull market made the Nobel Prize's income rise sharply, the initial 31 million Swedish kronor, now has increased more than 100 times, more than 4.2 billion kronor, about 3.4 billion yuan, has become a textbook-level example of investment.
In addition to optimizing financial strategies to achieve higher returns, Nobel** is also constantly improving its own operations. In 2018, the individual prize money of the Nobel Prize was SEK 9 million, while the operating and administrative expenses for the year were SEK 88 million, a decrease of about 1136%。
Since the establishment of the Nobel Prize, the operation of the Nobel Prize has been indispensable. Their financial management strategies have changed from cautious and conservative at the beginning, to determined reform in the medium term, and then to today's wealth legends, creating one financial miracle after another.
They know how to turn their money into steadily growing income, and they are fully committed to the continued development of the Nobel Prize. For more than 100 years, Nobel laureates have made outstanding contributions to all mankind, and although the amount of their prize money is only a few million, this does not affect their achievements.
On the contrary, Nobel** will always insist on increasing the amount of the prize and do its best to protect the financial benefits of the winners. The Nobel Prize is not only an honor, but also a scientific spirit and a humanistic spirit, and a precious heritage of all mankind.