Warren Buffett had better be prepared to dish out some high-value advice over lunch in New York in the near future — three-and-a-half million dollars-worth to be specific.
This year's winner of the “Buffett Lunch” auction, an opportunity to dine with the self-made billionaire and investment guru, forked out a record $3,456,789, money that will be channelled toward the Glide Foundation charity running anti-poverty programmes out of San Francisco.
The winning bid brings to $15 million the total amount raised since the auction began 13 years ago, reports said, adding that bidding began on Sunday evening at $25,000 and moved slowly at first but shot up to $500,000 by Friday and hit the $3 million mark in the last hour.
The much-sought-after lunch, which will be held at New York's Smith and Wollensky restaurant, has gained a reputation for being a high-profile powwow with the investment genius, who was diagnosed with prostrate cancer in April this year.
While this year's winner has requested anonymity, the winner of the 2010 and 2011 auctions was money manager Ted Weschler, a man whose lunch conversation and investing skills so impressed Mr. Buffett that he hired Mr. Weschler to manage some of the funds of his famous company, Berkshire Hathaway.
