Wanna have lunch with Warren Buffett? It costs Rs. 31cr
It's a no-brainer that getting lunch with Warren Buffet is not easy-peasy. After all, he's the third-richest person in the world. But would you have imagined that lunching with the Berkshire Hathaway chairman and CEO would set you back $4.5 million (Rs. 31cr)? If you are having trouble comprehending that figure, just think of buying a Bugatti Chiron and trading it for *one* lunch.
Actually, it's not that profligate. It's all for charity. San Francisco-based charity organization Glide Foundation recently auctioned a private lunch with Buffett on eBay and the winning bid was $4,567,888- a million dollars over the previous record. The auction closed on May 31 and the bidder remains anonymous. This is the 20th year in a row that Buffett is auctioning off a lunch.
The winning bidder bags a lunch date with Buffett (with up to seven friends) at New York's premier steakhouse Smith & Wollensky in Midtown Manhattan. Notably, Buffett has raised over $30 million for Glide through these annual lunches.
Buffett said, "The one universal characteristic with all the winners is that they have a good time and feel like they've gotten their money's worth." Glide President Karen Hanrahan told Reuters, "Buffett is committed to continuing the auction as long as he's able. He's been a thought partner in thinking through Glide's future, and how to set it up for the next 50 years."
Through this initiative, every year Glide Foundation raises money to help San Francisco's homeless. Glide provides roughly 2,000 free meals a day, and also divulges funds for shelter, HIV/Hep C tests, job training, children's daycare, and after-school programs.
Interestingly, Buffett himself is pretty low-maintenance. One might think that he indulges in lavish, full course meals, but the 88-year-old actually survives on a diet of McDonald's, diet coke, Utz potato sticks and Dairy Queen Sundaes. With a net worth of $81.6 billion, Buffett still lives in his modest Omaha home that he bought in 1958 for $31,500, and uses a $20 flip phone.
With this year, Buffett topped his previous record lunch bid $3,456,789, paid in both 2012 and 2016. Last year, the lunch auction concluded with a winning bid of $3,300,100. Past auction winners include hedge fund manager David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital in 2003.
