Warren Buffett, the second-richest man in the world, said he's willing to make three more lunch dates -- at US$250,000 each -- to raise more than US$1 million for a San Francisco charity.
Two, and possibly as many as three additional companies, want to match the winning bid for a date with the billionaire that was auctioned last week on EBay Inc's Web site, the head of the charity said.
Buffett, the chairman of Berk-shire Hathaway Inc, said he was pleased.
"There are three more takers, I hear," Buffett told Bloomberg News on Sunday, while attending the Allen & Co media conference in Sun Valley, Idaho.
"That's great," he said.
On Friday, Greenlight Capital Inc's David Einhorn, one of the founders of the New York-based investment-management firm, placed the original winning US$250,100 bid in the EBay auction, topping 140 other offers.
Proceeds from the luncheons will go to the Glide Foundation, a non-profit group that provides programs for about 30,000 homeless and needy people. Buffett became involved with Glide after his wife introduced him to the Reverend Cecil Williams, the head of the foundation, four years ago.
Three other companies contacted Williams after the auction, agreeing to match Einhorn's bid for a similar dining experience with Buffett, Williams said on Sunday in a telephone interview from Glide's headquarters.
Williams declined to identify the companies, two of which he said have confirmed they will match the bid and one that is considering it. The companies had participated in the auction, yet fell short of the winning bid.
Williams contacted Einhorn, who agreed to allow the matching donations on the condition that Buffett play bridge with him.
"Oh, my God, it's incredible," Williams said. "It's been a hard way to go sometimes, but we've always pulled it off until two or three years ago when the bottom fell out, as it did for most people."
Glide raised less than US$33,000 annually from the Buffett auction in the past three years.
Einhorn won a lunch for eight people in New York between May 5 and May 14, although an earlier appointment can be arranged in Omaha, Nebraska, where Berkshire is based.
Williams said the other lunches would likely be held in Omaha under similar circumstances.
"I am thrilled that these other bidders saw the value of this gift for the benefit of the homeless and decided to match it," Einhorn said in a statement provided by Abernathy MacGregor Group Inc, which handles public relations for Greenlight.
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a