New York: Warren Buffett's lunch auction rose to a record $2.63 million (Dh10 million) in the 11th annual charity fundraiser.
That's about 24 per cent higher than the previous record, set in 2008 when hedge-fund manager Zhao Danyang of Hong Kong paid $2.11 million.
The chance to have lunch with the celebrated billionaire investor drew nine bidders and 77 bids, according to EBay. The online auction started June 6 and ended at 10.30pm New York time Friday.
The winning bidder wishes to remain anonymous, according to Denise Lamott, a spokeswoman for the auction beneficiary, the Glide Foundation in San Francisco.
Buffett, the 79-year-old investor who is chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway, has raised about $8.56 million with the auctions to help the Glide Foundation, which serves meals to the needy. A group led by Courtenay Wolfe of Salida Capital won last year with a bid of $1.68 million.
"It's actually a remarkable calibration of his value," said Jeff Matthews, author of Pilgrimage to Warren Buffett's Omaha and founder of hedge fund Ram Partners. "It measures what people think his worth to them is."
Buffett's insights on markets attract the attention of those looking for clues on his investment strategy. Past auction winners have said topics of discussion also included corporate governance and philanthropy.
The top bidder gets to bring seven guests for lunch at Smith & Wollensky, the New York steakhouse.
Buffett's stock picks and takeovers turned Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire from a failing textile mill to a $180 billion seller of bricks, power and insurance. Tens of thousands of people gather in Omaha each year at Berkshire's annual meeting to hear Buffett expound on the economy and public policy.
Buffett's fortune was estimated at $47 billion by Forbes magazine in March, placing him behind tele-communications investor Carlos Slim and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in the worldwide rankings.
Results
- 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, China $2,110,100
- 2009 Salida Capital, Canada $1,680,300
