" He wanted his money to fund prizes recognizing benefit to humanity in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and peace, in perpetuity, long after he was gone. A conventional will leaving the fortune to his relatives, or to an institution his family or the Swedish state controlled, would let anyone in a later generation who disagreed with the scheme simply redirect the money once he was no longer there to object.
Nobel had no wife or children, but he did have nephews and other relatives with obvious claims on one of the era's largest private fortunes, and a Swedish establishment inclined to think an internationally awarded, non-Swedish-exclusive prize was a strange use of a Swedish fortune. Any plan that left family members or the crown holding discretion over the fortune's fate was a plan they could eventually unwind.
Named two outside executors with no inheritance stake, so the people enforcing the will had no incentive to redirect it.
Executors with no inheritance at stake had no incentive to redirect the funds.
Family members had no formal role, so they lacked legal standing to alter the bequest.
The will's structure forced any contest to go through courts, where the executors could defend it.
When committing resources to outlast you, put independent parties with no personal stake in charge of interpreting your intent.
His family and the Swedish king contested it for years; independent executors prevailed, and the first Nobel Prizes were awarded in 1901. The Nobel Foundation set up to administer the will has run continuously since 1900, and the prizes it funds remain among the most recognized awards in the world.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The sources
- Alfred Nobel's Will Norwegian Nobel Institute · nobelpeaceprize.org
- Ragnar Sohlman - executor of the Will Nobel Prize Outreach · nobelprize.org