The International Booker Prize Gets a New Name
The International Booker Prize has been renamed the Bukhman International Booker Prize. This change honors Russian-born entrepreneur Dmitry Bukhman and his wife Daria. The decision follows a commitment from the couple to fund the award for a decade through their Bukhman Philanthropies foundation.
The Bukhmans had already provided financial support for the prize in 2026. Starting next year, the main award will increase to £100,000, doubling from its previous £50,000. The prize money will be split equally between the author and translator. Authors and translators of shortlisted books will each receive £2,500.
Who Is Dmitry Bukhman?
Born in 1985 in the Russian city of Vologda, Dmitry Bukhman co-founded the online gaming company Playrix with his brother Igor in 2004. The company is known for popular titles such as Fishdom and Homescapes. By 2007, Playrix was generating around $300,000 in monthly revenue. Bukhman relocated from Russia to Israel in 2016 and later moved to the United Kingdom in 2020. As of September 2023, all Playrix offices in Russia and Belarus had been closed.
Dmitry Bukhman first appeared on the Forbes list in 2020 with a net worth of $3.1 billion, requesting to be listed as an Israeli. He acquired British citizenship in 2025, and by March 2026, his fortune had grown to $13.6 billion.
This renaming and the increased prize money signal significant shifts in the literary world, particularly in supporting authors and translators, thanks to the Bukhmans' initiatives. This funding could provide a major boost to the art of translation and the global spread of literature, a development especially relevant in an era of globalization and cultural exchange.