Anonymous Bidder Paid $19 Million for a Lunch with Warren Buffett

An anonymous bidder paid a record $19 million for a private steak lunch with legendary investor Warren Buffett. The sale was part of the 21st Lunch With Buffett Auction in partnership with eBay and the Glide Foundation, a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization dedicated to combating poverty, hunger, and homelessness.

Bids began on June 12 at $25,000 and ended at $19,000,100 from anonymous bidders on Friday, according to an eBay press release.

This year's huge amount is more than four times the 2019 highest bid of $4,567,888, the last auction before the hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The winner in 2019 was crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun.

The mysterious winner will enjoy a private lunch with Buffett and up to seven guests at the Smith & Wollensky Steakhouse in New York City, eBay says. 

Unfortunately for aspiring investors who want to break this year's record, this year is the final year of a "power lunch" with Buffett. Glide's annual auction has raised over $53 million. The auction was started by the late Susie Buffett in 2000 and is managed by eBay since 2003.