US: Warren Buffett charity lunch fetches winning bid of $19 million

A lucky, and likely wealthy, person bid more than $19 million to dine with Warren Buffett, in the 21st and final time that the billionaire businessman auctioned a private lunch to benefit a San Francisco charity.

The winning bid in the eBay auction that ended on Friday night far surpassed the previous record of $4.57 million, paid in 2019 by cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun, although the new winner’s identity could not immediately be determined.

Proceeds benefit Glide, a non-profit in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district that helps the poor, homeless or those battling substance abuse. Glide offers meals, shelter, HIV and hepatitis C tests, job training and children’s programs.

Buffett, 91, the chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway Inc, has raised more than $53.2 million for Glide in the 21 auctions, which began in 2000.

An eBay spokeswoman said the lunch was the most expensive item ever sold on the company’s website to benefit charity.

No auctions were held in 2020 and 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Buffett became a supporter of Glide after his first wife Susan, who died in 2004, introduced him to the charity, where she had been volunteering.

He has also pledged to give away nearly all of his fortune. Buffett was worth $93.4 billion on Friday, ranking seventh worldwide, according to Forbes magazine.

This year’s auction winner and up to seven guests will dine with Buffett at the Smith & Wollensky steakhouse in Manhattan.

Buffett still owns nearly 16 per cent of the Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate, despite having donated more than half of his shares since 2006, including $4 billion on June 14.