Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Billionaire Pays $4 Million For Nobel Prize, Gives the Medal Back to Laureate Seller

From the BBC:

Russia's Usmanov to give back Watson's auctioned Nobel medal
Watson's Nobel medal  
The medal sold at auction for £3m

Russia's richest man has revealed that he bought US scientist James Watson's Nobel Prize gold medal, and intends to return it to him.

Steel and telecoms tycoon Alisher Usmanov said Mr Watson "deserved" the medal, and that he was "distressed" the scientist had felt forced to sell it.

The medal, awarded in 1962 for the discovery of the structure of DNA, sold for $4.8m (£3m) at auction.
The medal was the first Nobel Prize to be put on sale by a living recipient....MORE
The headline at the Independent is:
Arsenal owner Alisher Usmanov hands Nobel Prize back to disgraced DNA scientist James Watson straight after buying it off him
Gotta know your audience.