Looks like you are going to have to flash some serious cash to have a chance to pick the brain of super-investor Warren Buffett over lunch in downtown New York.
Justin Sun, founder of the cryptocurrency Tronix which is currently valued at $2.56 billion, won the 20th annual auction for a “Power Lunch with Warren Buffett” with a final record bid of $4,567,888 on Friday, according to Bloomberg. The auction was hosted exclusively on eBay with the winner, along with up to seven friends, getting a chance to dine with the Berkshire Hathaway billionaire philanthropist at the famed Smith & Wollensky steakhouse in New York City.
Sun told Bloomberg that he hopes to educate Buffett, who has been famously opposed to Bitcoin, on cryptocurrency and the technology that makes it work.
“It is very common in investment circles that people will change their minds,” Sun told Bloomberg in a phone interview. “Investment opportunities are best when lots of people are underestimating the technology.”
All proceeds of the auction will go to the Glide Foundation, which has been the beneficiary since the auction began in 2000. The foundation was created more than 50 years ago by Rev. Cecil Williams and Janice Mirikitani, and is associated with the Memorial United Methodist Church.
So far, more than $30 million has been raised for the San Francisco charity that provides aid for the homeless. Buffett’s late wife Susan Thompson Buffett was a philanthropist and resident of the booming West Coast city.
The bidding post on eBay described the organization as “a radically inclusive, just and loving community mobilized to alleviate suffering and break the cycles of poverty and marginalization.
“Glide’s mission is to break the cycles of multi-generational dependency, poverty, and low self-worth by providing a spiritual home of unconditional love. Glide strives to create a healthy community by offering effective services that foster holistic healing in an environment of cultural integrity and diversity.”
The annual auction has always been a popular fundraiser with past winners including Ted Weschler, now on Buffett’s investment team, and David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital.
When the auction started in 2000, the winning bid was $25,000. Now, the bidding starts at $25,000, and the auction has ended under $2 million only once since 2010. The previous record bid of $3,456,789 was set in both 2012 and 2016 according to the Wall Street Journal.