著名科学家阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦在学术上取得的卓越成就世人皆知，但却很少有人听说过他其实还是一个股票投资高手。但事实显示，他和自己的财务顾问在不到20年的时间里使原本区区几千美元的本钱增殖到了25万美元以上。

    据英国《独立报》12月18日报道，上周在德国首都柏林举行的一场拍卖会上，爱因斯坦的一张股票以2.8万欧元的价格被拍出。这张股票是在美国发现的，股票上面有这位世界最著名物理学家的亲笔签名。这张股票显示，爱因斯坦在美国五月百货公司里所拥有的60股股票的市值在6年的时间内翻了一番。

    不过以一个股市投机者形象出现在世人面前的爱因斯坦似乎很难与那个一向被视做和平主义者和理想主义者的形象相吻合。他曾说：“金钱只会让人变得自私，而且总是引诱人们不由自主地挥霍无度。”上个世纪30年代爱因斯坦刚刚抵达美国普林斯顿大学时，校方询问其对月薪的具体要求，他们最后得到的回答是3000美元。校方拒绝了这个要求，理由竟然是这个数儿实在太低了。爱因斯坦的财务顾问塞缪尔·D·莱德斯多夫曾劝说其把要价抬高到每月1.7万美元。而上周拍卖的那张股票可能更多是反映了莱德斯多夫的精明。

    Albert Einstein and his scientific achievements are world-renowned. Less well-known are his successes as a stock market investor. But it turns out that, in less than 20 years, he and his adviser turned a few thousand dollars into more than $250,000.

    A share certificate signed by the world's most famous physicist, discovered in the US, fetched ?28,000 last week in Berlin. It reveals that Einstein's 60 shares in May Department Stores alone doubled in value in six years.

    The image of Einstein as stock-market punter does not sit easily with that of Einstein the pacifist and idealist. "Money only appeals to selfishness and always irresistibly tempts its owner to abuse it," he once said.

    Einstein pulled off the feat of being genuinely non-materialistic, while having more than enough money. On arrival in Princeton in the 1930s, he was asked to name his salary, and arrived at a figure of $3,000. This was turned down, to his surprise, as too low. His accountant, Samuel D Leidesdorf, persuaded him to settle for $17,000.

    Thereafter Leidesdorf advised Einstein, and the share certificate sold last week may indeed represent Leidesdorf's, rather than Einstein's, acumen.