A bidder has agreed to pay US$2.63 million for a steak lunch with the billionaire investor Warren Buffett in a charity auction held on eBay Inc’s Web site.
The highest bid in the 11th annual auction topped the previous record US$2.11 million paid in 2008 by Zhao Danyang (趙丹陽), a Hong Kong investor. Wealth manager Salida Capital Corp of Toronto won with a US$1.68 million bid last year.
The identity of the winning bidder could not immediately be determined after bidding closed Friday night.
PHOTO: REUTERS
EBay was not immediately available for comment. Berkshire Hathaway Inc, Buffett’s insurance and investment company, did not immediately return a request for comment.
The winner and up to seven friends will dine with the world’s third-richest person at the Smith & Wollensky steakhouse in midtown Manhattan. Smith & Wollensky is also donating US$10,000.
As in his increasingly frequent television appearances, Buffett will talk about pretty much anything apart from what he is buying and selling.
Proceeds benefit the Glide Foundation, a San Francisco non-profit organization offering meals, healthcare, child care, housing and job training for the poor and homeless.
Glide is also known for lively Sunday morning services that include gospel music.
Buffett began auctioning the lunches in 2000 after his first wife Susan introduced him to Glide and its founder, the Reverend Cecil Williams.
In a Friday interview, Williams said the auction was critical to Glide because the economy has caused donations to fall 20 percent this year, while demand for Glide’s services was up 30 percent. Glide’s annual budget is about US$17 million.
The auction began on Sunday night and the top bid rose from US$1.8 million in the last hour. Nine bidders made a total of 77 bids. Entering Friday, the highest bid had been US$900,100, according to eBay.
Buffett, 79, built an estimated US$47 billion fortune running Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire, which operates about 80 businesses and has tens of billions of dollars of investments.
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