Information theory gets credited to Shannon but the people who made it actually work in practice rarely get this kind of recognition. Long overdue.

this isn't about making quantum computing work in practice, this work was still theoretical math

To think quantum computers at IBM in the 80's, its sad to think companies like IBM and Bell Labs are not the same companies they used to be, I mean the people working at those companies during the 20th century changed the world. Im glad they got this award as it is apparent they had a huge impact on security and quantum computing in general.

So the guy that came up with the idea and approach is the secondary on the award?

No, there is one award each year, and this year it is shared equally between two people: Charles Bennett and Gilles Brassard. This happens more often, and it has even been shared between three people (in 2002, 2007 and 2018).