Macanese billionaire Stanley Ho (何鴻燊) paid a record US$330,000 for a white truffle at a charity auction, beating competing bids from the UK artist Damien Hirst and Sheik Mansoor Bin Zayed al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi, the organizers said.
The 1.5kg tuber magnatum pico was found on Nov. 23 near Pisa by Cristiano and Luciano Savini, who donated it to the International Tuscan Truffle Auction. The event, in its fifth year, was held simultaneously yesterday in London, Florence and Macau. The previous record for a truffle was US$212,000.
"It was very, very exciting," said Giorgio Locatelli, the Italian chef who hosted the London end of the auction. "I was bidding on behalf of Damien, who was on the phone. He'd planned to come, but you never know with him. On my birthday, I offered him a table at my restaurant but he showed up at my house instead."
PHOTO: AP
The auction raised a total of US$453,000, with the proceeds going to different charities in each country: The Consortium for Street Children in the UK; the Telethon in Italy and Caritas in China. The association aims to promote and protect the Tuscan truffle and to support the hunters who unearth them with dogs.
"Please tell everyone, I am very happy," organizer Giselle Oberti of the association said in a telephone interview from Florence, where she said she bid on behalf of the sheik at Palazzo Medici Ricciardi.
In Macau, the event was conducted at the Italian restaurant in Ho's Grand Lisboa hotel. Ho owns the casino operator Sociedade de Jogos de Macau SA, which is planning a share sale.
In London, the auction took place at Refettorio restaurant, where a four-course lunch included risotto with white truffle and white-truffle ice cream. Among the almost 100 who attended was the millionaire media entrepreneur and broadcaster Chris Evans.
"I'm very good friends with Giorgio, so I came along to support him," Evans said in an interview after the auction. "Giorgio supports us every year when we raise money for Children in Need. We made ?250,000 [US$514,000] at a dinner this year. That would be enough for some white truffles."
The three-way auction was conducted in English and Italian. It included 13 other lots and was noisy at times as excited commentators competed to describe the action. In London, Piers Davies of Christie's International was in charge as Locatelli ran around the room with truffles, trying to tempt potential bidders.
"I had to bid," said Paola Gupta, who paid ?6,000 for a 370g truffle found in San Miniato.
"I am Italian. Truffle is Italian culture and we have to keep it," Gupta said.
The auction was sponsored by the region of Tuscany, along with the Province of Florence, the Province of Arezzo and the Union of Regional Associations of Tuscan Truffle Hunters.
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