Russian Journalist Auctions Off Nobel Peace Prize For Record $103.5 Million To Help Ukrainian Children

Russian journalist and the editor-in-chief of the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, Dmitry Muratov auctioned off his Nobel Peace Prize for a whopping $103.5 million.

All the money from the auction, which coincided with World Refugee Day on Monday, June 20, will be used to help children displaced by the war in Ukraine.

The identity of the buyer has not been revealed but a spokesperson for Heritage Auctions, which handled the sale, said the winning bid that roughly translates to $100 million Swiss francs was made by proxy, hinting that the buyer is from overseas.

“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 said in an interview after the bidding.

Muratov was awarded the gold medal in Oct. 2021, for his efforts to preserve free speech in his country.

He started the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta and was the publication's editor-in-chief when it shut down in March in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

“It has to become a beginning of a flash mob as an example to follow so people auction their valuable possessions to help Ukrainians,” Muratov said before the sale.

Muratov said he was particularly concerned about children who have been orphaned because of the Russia-Ukraine war and that he will be selling the award “to give the children refugees a chance for a future.” The proceeds will go directly to UNICEF.

Muratov had already announced he was donating the accompanying $500,000 cash award to charity.

“We want to return their future,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press.

The online bids began on June 1 to coincide with the International Children’s Day observance and Monday’s live bidding was on World Refugee Day.

“It’s a very bespoke deal,” said Joshua Benesh, the chief strategy officer for Heritage Auctions.

“Not everyone in the world has a Nobel Prize to auction and not every day of the week that there’s a Nobel Prize crossing the auction block.”

“I can’t believe it. I’m awestruck. Personally, I’m flabbergasted. I’m stunned. I don’t really know what happened in there,” Benesh, said after the sale.

“We knew that there was a tremendous groundswell of interest in the last couple of days by people who were moved by Dimitry’s story, by Dimitry’s act of generosity, that the global audience was listening tonight,” he said.