An anonymous bidder paid a record-breaking $19 million for a private steak lunch with legendary investor Warren Buffet. The sale was part of the 21st annual buffet lunch auction produced in partnership with eBay and the Glide Foundation, a San Francisco-based nonprofit dedicated to ending poverty, hunger and homelessness. The auction started in June with $25,000 in January and ended Friday at $19,000,100 from an anonymous bidder, according to an eBay press release. This year’s massive sum is more than four times the highest bid of $4,567,888 in 2019 – the last auction before a halt due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The winner of 2019 was cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun.
The mystery winner will enjoy a private buffet lunch with up to seven guests at the Smith & Wollensky Steakhouse in New York City, eBay says.
Unfortunately for aspiring investors hoping to surpass this year’s record, this marks the final year of Buffett’s “power lunch.” The annual auction raised over $53 million for Glide.
“On behalf of GLIDE and those we serve, I thank Warren Buffett for his unwavering generosity, partnership and dedication and for his incredible contribution to our mission,” said the organization’s President and CEO Karen Hanrahan in the press release.
The auction was first started in 2000 by the late Susie Buffet. eBay has been managing the auction since 2003.
“We are incredibly proud that Warren Buffett’s latest Power Lunch broke our all-time record for fundraising, with all proceeds supporting GLIDE’s efforts to find ways out of this crisis and transform lives,” said eBay CEO Jamie Iannone in the press release .