The “Oscars of science” returned to Santa Monica on Saturday night as A‑list celebrities rubbed shoulders with Nobel laureates and tech billionaires at the 12th annual Breakthrough Prize ceremony — a glamorous celebration of humanity’s most brilliant minds that awarded more than $15 million to this year’s winners.
Anne Hathaway, Robert Downey Jr., Zoe Saldaña, Ben Affleck, Paris Hilton, Margot Robbie, Lionel Richie, Michelle Yeoh, Rob Lowe, John Legend, Chrissy Teigen, Jessica Chastain, Christina Aguilera, Gal Gadot, director Ron Howard and Olivia Wilde were among the glittering crowd walking the red carpet at Santa Monica’s Barker Hangar. The event, founded by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, along with Sergey Brin, Julia and Yuri Milner, and Anne Wojcicki, has become one of Hollywood’s most intellectually star‑studded nights.
Hilton, accompanied by her husband Carter Reum, told Page Six she was looking forward to celebrating the winners. Michelle Yeoh, fresh from her “Wicked” press tour, told reporters she was most intrigued by artificial intelligence, still eager to learn how it evolved and where it will lead humanity. Lionel Richie joked that if he could study any scientific topic, “It wouldn’t be physics — I like plants. Lots of plants.”
The Breakthrough Prize: ‘The Oscars of Science’
The Breakthrough Prize was founded in 2012 to celebrate the world’s top scientists and mathematicians. Often compared to the Academy Awards for its red‑carpet glamour and televised ceremony, the prizes are among the most lucrative in academia.
| Prize Category | Award Amount | 2026 Winners (Examples) |
|---|---|---|
| Life Sciences | $3 million | Researchers from UC Berkeley, Stanford, UPenn, MIT, Oxford, Duke, Caltech |
| Fundamental Physics | $3 million | Scientists from Princeton, University of Chicago, Columbia, NYU |
| Mathematics | $3 million | Scholars from University of California, Santa Barbara, and others |
In addition to the main prizes, the ceremony also presents the Breakthrough Junior Prize (a $250,000 award for a student’s science video) and the Maryam Mirzakhani New Frontiers Prize (for early‑career women mathematicians). The total awarded annually exceeds $15 million.
The event is televised and produced by the same team behind the Oscars and Golden Globes, emphasizing the foundation’s mission to make science “cool” and inspire the next generation of researchers.
The Celebrity Lineup: A Who’s Who of Hollywood and Tech
This year’s guest list read like a Hollywood premiere mixed with a Davos summit:
Actors & Entertainers:
- Anne Hathaway, Robert Downey Jr. (with producer wife Susan Downey), Zoe Saldaña, Ben Affleck, Margot Robbie (with husband Tom Ackerley), Olivia Wilde, Michelle Yeoh, Jessica Chastain, Gal Gadot, Oscar Isaac, Lily Collins, Naomi Watts, Billy Crudup, Rob Lowe, Michelle Williams, Edward Norton, Salma Hayek (with husband François‑Henri Pinault), Jewel, Christina Aguilera, John Legend & Chrissy Teigen, Adam Levine, Lionel Richie, Gigi Hadid, Paris Hilton & Carter Reum.
Directors & Producers:
- Ron Howard, Darren Aronofsky, Brian Grazer.
Tech & Business Titans:
- Bill Gates, Tim Cook (Apple), Sam Altman (OpenAI), Jensen Huang (Nvidia), Greg Brockman (OpenAI president), Tekedra Mawakana (Waymo), Marc Andreessen (venture capitalist), Michael Dell (Dell Technologies), Evan Spiegel (Snapchat) with model Miranda Kerr.
Chess & Other Notables:
- Magnus Carlsen (world chess champion).
The Intersection of Science and Stardom
The Breakthrough Prize ceremony has become a unique platform where Nobel laureates and Hollywood stars share tables and conversations. Past attendees have included Katy Perry, Lauren Sánchez, Kate Hudson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Drew Barrymore, Lizzo, Will.i.am, Alicia Keys, and Jodie Foster.
The gala’s host and performers are kept secret until the night of the event, but previous years have featured performances by Pharrell Williams, Alicia Keys, and John Legend. The 2026 ceremony was hosted by actor and comedian Ken Jeong (himself a former physician), blending his medical background with his comedic chops.
This Year’s Scientific Achievements
While the celebrity coverage dominates headlines, the heart of the evening lies in the breakthroughs being honored. According to the Breakthrough Prize foundation, this year’s laureates made transformative contributions:
- Life Sciences: Researchers discovered a novel mechanism for cellular repair that could lead to new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases; another team mapped the neural circuits underlying chronic pain.
- Fundamental Physics: A collaboration provided the first direct evidence of a new type of subatomic particle, opening a window into dark matter.
- Mathematics: A mathematician solved a 40‑year‑old conjecture in topology, reshaping the field.
The winners hailed from more than a dozen institutions, including UC Berkeley, Stanford, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Chicago, MIT, NYU, Columbia, Oxford, Duke, Caltech, and the University of California, Santa Barbara.
The Visionaries Behind the Prize
The Breakthrough Prize was co‑founded by some of the world’s most influential tech leaders:
- Mark Zuckerberg & Priscilla Chan – Meta CEO and philanthropist
- Sergey Brin – Co‑founder of Google
- Yuri & Julia Milner – Tech investor and philanthropist
- Anne Wojcicki – Co‑founder and CEO of 23andMe
Their shared goal: to elevate the status of scientists to that of rock stars and movie idols, encouraging young people to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
“We wanted to create a way to celebrate scientists the way we celebrate entertainers,” Milner has said in previous interviews.
The Red Carpet Highlights
Several moments stood out from the carpet:
- Anne Hathaway and Olivia Wilde warmly embraced while waiting for photographers, a reunion of “The Devil Wears Prada” stars that delighted fans.
- Paris Hilton – known for her reality TV fame – expressed genuine excitement about the scientific winners, telling Page Six she was looking forward to the evening.
- Michelle Yeoh – ever curious – said she still had questions about the origins of artificial intelligence and hoped to learn from the scientists at her table.
- Lionel Richie kept it light, joking about his love for botany.
- John Legend and Chrissy Teigen made a fashionable late arrival, just in time for the VIP dinner.
What Happens Next
- Televised broadcast: The ceremony will be edited into a one‑hour special airing on National Geographic and streaming on Hulu and Disney+ later this spring.
- Educational outreach: The Breakthrough Prize foundation runs a free online library of video lectures by laureates, aimed at high school students.
- Next year’s ceremony: Already being planned for April 2027, with nominations opening in the fall.
FAQ: Breakthrough Prize
Q: What is the Breakthrough Prize?
A: A set of international awards founded in 2012 to recognize top researchers in Life Sciences, Fundamental Physics, and Mathematics. Each prize is $3 million.
Q: Who founded it?
A: Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, Sergey Brin, Yuri and Julia Milner, and Anne Wojcicki.
Q: Why is it called “the Oscars of science”?
A: Because of its red‑carpet celebrity attendance, televised production, and glamorous ceremony.
Q: Who attended the 2026 ceremony?
A: Anne Hathaway, Robert Downey Jr., Margot Robbie, Zoe Saldaña, Ben Affleck, Paris Hilton, Michelle Yeoh, Lionel Richie, John Legend, Chrissy Teigen, Bill Gates, Tim Cook, Sam Altman, and many more.
Q: How much money is awarded annually?
A: Over $15 million across all categories.
Q: Where can I watch the ceremony?
A: The edited broadcast airs on National Geographic and streams on Hulu and Disney+.
