It’s a sign of success when you can go to an upscale restaurant and order the most expensive steak without a single hesitation. But when someone else foots the bill and pays another $27 million for the distinct privilege of sitting across the table from you — that’s an entirely different level that very few can ever claim to have reached. Within this elite company is where you’ll find Warren Buffett, who has spent the past few decades leveraging his status to auction a “power lunch” for charity.
The idea for a power lunch with Warren Buffett came about circa 2000 from his late first wife Susan and has been managed by eBay since 2003. The auction winner – with up to seven guests – is promised a private lunch with Buffett at his usual haunt: Smith & Wollensky Steakhouse in New York City. All proceeds are directed to GLIDE, a San Francisco-based organisation dedicated to combatting poverty and homelessness.
“On behalf of GLIDE and those we serve, I thank Warren Buffett for his unwavering generosity, partnership and dedication, and for his incredible contribution to our mission,” said GLIDE President & CEO Karen Hanrahan.
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This year’s winning bid of $27 million set an auction record. For context, that’s four times the winning bid of cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun, who enjoyed the last power lunch back in 2019. How has it managed to command such a lofty price? A one-two combination of the auction’s hiatus thanks to COVID-19 and the 2022 power lunch reportedly being Warren Buffett’s last. After this grand finale, 21 years of steak lunches with the Oracle of Omaha will have raised over $76 million for GLIDE.
“We are incredibly proud that Warren Buffett’s final Power Lunch has broken our all-time record of funds raised, with all proceeds supporting GLIDE’s efforts to create pathways out of crisis and transform lives,” said eBay CEO Jamie Iannone.
At the time of this writing, the individual behind the bid has yet to be confirmed. If you’re in a position to spend this kind of money for a single lunch – be it with Warren Buffett or otherwise – it’s hard to believe you’re really looking for financial advice from the man. It’s all rather reminiscent of the time Twitter users engaged in a lengthy debate about whether it’d be better to have dinner with JAY-Z or $500,000 in cash.
