London: The Booker Prize Thursday found a new financial backer in venture capitalist and author Michael Moritz, a month after its previous sponsor the Man Group ended its 18-year association with the Britain’s most prestigious literary prize. The annual award for novels, which has been known as the Man Booker since 2002, will be paid for the next five years by Crankstart, the charity run by 64-year-old Moritz and his wife Harriet Heyman.
Welsh-born Moritz, who is based in San Francisco, is worth USD 3.4 billlionaire, according to Forbes magazine. “Neither of us can imagine a day where we don’t spend time reading a book. The Booker Prizes are ways of spreading the word about the insights, discoveries, pleasures and joy that spring from great fiction,” Moritz said. “Just like The Booker, I was born in Britain and before coming to America was reared on English literature. Harriet and I feel fortunate to be able to support prizes that together celebrate the best fiction in the world,” he was quoted as saying by the BBC.
