Russian journalist's Nobel Peace Prize fetches record $103.5 million at auction to help Ukrainian kids

Dmitry Muratov
(Image credit: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov auctioned off his Nobel Peace Prize to help Ukrainian children and families displaced by Russia's invasion, and an anonymous buyer won the bidding Monday night with an unexpectedly generous $103.5 million. UNICEF said it received the funds minutes after the bidding ended. The previous record for a Nobel was $4.76 million, earned by James Watson in 2014 when he sold his Nobel for co-discovering the structure of DNA in 1962, The Associated Press reports.

"I was hoping that there was going to be an enormous amount of solidarity, but I was not expecting this to be such a huge amount," Muratov told AP. The bidding started on June 1, International Children's Day, and was at $550,000 early Monday, World Refugee Day. Melted down, the gold in the Nobel Prize is worth about $10,000, AP reports.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.