A little wonder, every day

Fact 1644 — The Nobel Prize amount was cut by 20% in 2012

AI-generated cover image comparing two generic coin stacks beside an award medal and ledger; it does not encode exact amounts. Exact prompt: “Photorealistic editorial cover about a 20 percent reduction in the Nobel Prize amount in 2012: a generic gold medal beside two tidy stacks of Swedish krona coins of different heights and an open financial ledger on a dark wooden desk, vertical 4:5. Symbolic still life, no official Nobel design, no readable numbers, text or logos.”

Photograph of the 1945 Nobel Prize in Medicine medal awarded to Alexander Fleming, on display at the National Museum of Scotland. Photographer Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg). Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nobel_prize_medal_for_medicine,_Sweden,_1945,_to_Sir_Alexander_Fleming_(1881-1955)_who_discovered_Penicillin._On_display_at_the_National_Museum_of_Scotland.jpg; CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/. Attribution: Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg), via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. It is Fleming’s medal, not evidence for the financial decision. Copied unchanged from fact 1609.

AI-generated editorial illustration (created 2026-10-19) of generic foundation accounts and charts in a Stockholm office; chart marks are illustrative and contain no reliable figures. Exact prompt: “Photorealistic editorial image of a financial stewardship desk in a Swedish foundation office around 2012: ledger, calculator, Swedish krona coins and investment charts with no legible numbers, cool daylight, vertical 4:5. Generic illustration of long-term fund management, no institution branding or readable text.”

Photograph of Stockholm Concert Hall, venue for Nobel award ceremonies. Photographer anonymous. Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stockholm_Konserthuset_2002.jpg; CC BY-SA 3.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/. Credit: anonymous photographer via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. Copied unchanged from fact 1609.

AI-generated editorial reconstruction (created 2026-10-19) of an anonymous finance team reviewing long-term endowment papers; not Nobel Foundation staff or a documented meeting. Exact prompt: “Photorealistic editorial reconstruction of a foundation finance team reviewing long-term endowment papers in a Scandinavian office in 2012, three anonymous staff members around a table with charts and a calculator, faces indistinct, vertical 4:5. Generic scene, not Nobel Foundation staff or a documented meeting, no readable text, numbers, or logos.”

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AI-generated cover image comparing two generic coin stacks beside an award medal and ledger; it does not encode exact amounts. Exact prompt: “Photorealistic editorial cover about a 20 percent reduction in the Nobel Prize amount in 2012: a generic gold medal beside two tidy stacks of Swedish krona coins of different heights and an open financial ledger on a dark wooden desk, vertical 4:5. Symbolic still life, no official Nobel design, no readable numbers, text or logos.”

Listen to fact0:00 / —

In 2012, the Nobel Foundation reduced the amount of each prize from 10 million to 8 million Swedish kronor, a 20% cut. It said the decision was intended to protect the capital over the long term and preserve the prize’s financial base. The Foundation’s press release at the time valued 8 million kronor at about 1.1 million US dollars at the then-current exchange rate.