After a three-year hiatus, the revived "Buffett Lunch" has been sold for over $9 million.
At 10:30 AM Beijing time on May 15, the latest auction for Warren Buffett's charity lunch concluded. The eBay website showed a total of 172 bids from five bidders, with the final winning bid reaching $9,000,100 (approximately 61 million yuan). The buyer's identity has not yet been disclosed.
The auction, titled "A Seat at the Table," was conducted online on the eBay platform. Bidding began at 7:30 PM Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) on May 7 (10:30 AM Beijing time on May 8). The proceeds will support the GLIDE Foundation and the Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation, co-founded by NBA superstar Stephen Curry and his wife.
According to the arrangement, the winning bidder and up to seven guests will enjoy an exclusive lunch with Buffett and the Curry couple on June 24, 2026, in Omaha, Nebraska, USA. The auction proceeds will be equally divided between the GLIDE Foundation and the Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation.
Under the auction rules, Buffett has pledged to match the final bid amount equally for both charities. This means that in addition to the $9 million winning bid, Buffett will donate an additional $9 million each to the GLIDE Foundation and the Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation.
Buffett's last charity lunch was held in 2022, setting a record high of $19 million.
Explaining the decision to restart the charity lunch after three years, Buffett stated in a previous declaration: "Over the years, I have witnessed firsthand how the business community and innovative nonprofit organizations can collaborate to create real change. I have always believed in supporting institutions that truly make an impact. This event is a reunion in a new context, and I am honored to join forces with people I admire to support meaningful causes. I am delighted to partner with the Curry couple to launch this new philanthropic initiative."
The first Buffett charity lunch auction took place in 2000, and since 2003, eBay has served as the bidding platform. To date, the auctions have raised over $53 million in donations. These funds have been directed to the GLIDE Foundation in San Francisco to assist homeless individuals.
Since the inception of the Buffett charity lunch in 2000, four Chinese individuals have been publicly named as winning bidders. They include Duan Yongping, founder of BBK Electronics, in 2006; Zhao Danyang, a private equity veteran and general manager of Chizi Xin Asset Management, in 2008; Zhu Ye, chairman of Tian Shen Entertainment (002354), in 2015; and Sun Yuchen, founder of the cryptocurrency Tron, in 2019. However, Sun Yuchen abruptly canceled his lunch meeting with Buffett in July 2019, citing a sudden kidney stone condition. In February 2020, he claimed to have dined with Buffett at a private country club in Omaha, Nebraska, on January 23, 2020.