By
Associated Press
OMAHA, Nebraska — An unidentified person has shelled out a record $19 million for a private meal with billionaire Warren Buffet at a New York steakhouse.
Lunch with the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway was offered at an eBay auction to benefit the San Francisco, California-based charity GLIDE, which helps the homeless and poor.
The starting price was $25,000 and the winner can bring up to seven guests.
[The richest people on the planet pay very little (or no) taxes to the IRS]
Buffett, one of the world's richest men, has raised $53 million for GLIDE since the auction began in 2000. The charity gained the billionaire philanthropist's support when his first wife, Susie, introduced him to after she started volunteering there.
She died in 2004.
Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, speaks during a game of bridge after the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting of shareholders in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 5, 2019. Nati Harnik / AP
This year's event will be the first private lunch offered with the 91-year-old billionaire since crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun's previous record-breaking $4.5 million bid in 2019. The last two auctions were canceled due to COVID-19 and Buffett has said this will be the last.
“It has been nothing but a good [experience],” Buffett said of the charity meal in a press release.
“I have met many interesting people from all over the world.
The only universal characteristic is that they feel that the money is going to be put to very good uses,” he explained.
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Like this year's winner, other previous winners have chosen to remain anonymous.
A former winner, Ted Weschler, received a job offer from Buffett's company after spending nearly $5.3 million on two auctions in 2010 and 2011. Weschler now works as an investment manager for the Omaha, Nebraska, Berkshire conglomerate.
Berkshire Hathaway manages a wide variety of businesses including insurance, energy, rail and retail products.
