BUFFETT CHARITY LUNCH SELLS FOR $2.63 MILLION
NEW YORK, June 11 |
Sat Jun 11, 2011 6:50am EDT
NEW YORK, June 11 (Reuters) – A steak lunch at Smith &
Wollensky in Manhattan starts at $36.50. The very same lunch, eaten
in the company of legendary investor Warren Buffett, expenses
approximately $2.63 million.
That was the final result of the annual on the internet charity
auction for lunch with the “Oracle of Omaha,” which ended late
Friday night. A total of two bidders entered eight bids in the
eBay (EBAY.O) auction, which began last Sunday.
(For a Breakingviews column on the auction, click
[ID:nN10218696])
The final bid was actually for just under $2.35 million,
but the anonymous winner added to that right after the auction to
surpass last year’s winning bid by $111, organizers said.
Interest was much lower than in 2010, when nine bidders
produced a total of 77 bids for the luncheon.
The proceeds benefit GLIDE, a San Francisco charity that
Buffett was introduced to by his late first wife, Susan.
Buffett, 80, is the chief executive of the
insurance-to-ice-cream conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N)
and 1 of the world’s richest men.
His fondness for red meat is also nicely recognized in the course of
Berkshire’s annual shareholder meeting in Omaha he urges
investors to visit his preferred steakhouses for a T-bone steak
or two.
(Reporting by Ben Berkowitz Editing by Paul Simao)