Warren Buffett's last lunch auction fetches record $19 million bid

Warren Buffett has cemented his legacy as one of the most expensive lunch guests of all time

Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway
Max Reyes | Bloomberg
2 min read Last Updated : Jun 18 2022 | 9:15 AM IST
Warren Buffett has cemented his legacy as one of the most expensive lunch guests of all time.

The winning bid in a benefit auctioning off a chance to dine with the billionaire investor clocked in at $19 million, according to the Ebay listing, securing an anonymous bidder and up to seven guests a meal with the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. chairman and chief executive officer at Smith & Wollensky in New York.

The auction to raise money for San Francisco-based charity Glide opened Sunday with a starting price of $25,000. By Monday, bids crept past $2 million. The competition took a sharp turn Friday, the last day of bidding, with one potential diner placing an $11 million bid that sparked a costly tug-of-war. A final-minute bid lifted the eventual price to $19 million. 

The whopping sum easily surpassed the previous record set by cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun, who paid $4.57 million to win the auction in 2019. The event wasn’t held in 2020 or 2021 because of the pandemic.

The auction’s biggest-ever year will also be its last. Since it started in 2000, the benefit has raised more than $53 million to support Glide, which offers programs to address poverty and homelessness, particularly in San Francisco.

Winning bids across the years have come from financial figures like hedge fund manager David Einhorn. Ted Weschler bid more than $5 million combined over two auctions before Berkshire hired him as an investment manager.


Year   Winner Winning Bid
2000
Anonymous $25,000
2001
Anonymous $18,000
2002
Anonymous  $25,000
2003
David Einhorn, Greenlight Capital  $250,100
2004
Jason Choo, Singapore $202,100
2005
Anonymous  $351,100
2006
Yongping Duan, California $620,100
2007
Mohnish Pabrai, Guy Spier, Harina Kapoor  $650,100
2008
Zhao Danyang, Pure Heart Asset Management  $2,110,100
2009
Salida Capital, Canada  $1,680,300
2010
 Ted Weschler  $2,626,311
2011
Ted Weschler $2,626,411
2012
Anonymous  $3,456,789
2013
Anonymous  $1,000,100
2014
Andy Chua, Singapore $2,166,766
2015
Zhu Ye, Dalian Zeus Entertainment Co.  $2,345,678
2016
Anonymous  $3,456,789
2017
Anonymous  $2,679,001
2018
Anonymous  $3,300,100
2019
Justin Sun, Tron  $4,567,888
2022
Unknown  $19,000,100

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Topics :Warren BuffetBerkshire Hathway Warren Buffett

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