Someone Just Paid a Record $4.6 Million to Eat Lunch With Warren Buffett An anonymous bidder won Warren Buffet's annual charity auction lunch with a record bid of $4.6 million.

By Arjun Reddy

This story originally appeared on Business Insider

Dave Weaver/AP via BI

Bidding for the 20th annual charity auction for a "Power Lunch with Warren Buffett," has ended, with an anonymous winner taking the prize with a final bid of $4,567,888.

The lunch is presented by eBay and the Glide Foundation and will be held at the famed steakhouse Smith & Wollensky in New York City.

The auction was hosted exclusively on eBay, with final bids due Friday, May 31, at 7:30 p.m. PT. Past winners include David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital and Ted Weschler, now part of Buffett's investment team.

As in previous years, 100 percent of the proceeds donated to the Glide Foundation, a San Francisco-based charity which provides local services to the homeless. The foundation is associated with the Memorial United Methodist Church and was founded over fifty years ago by Rev. Cecil Williams and Janice Mirikitani.

The annual lunch, which started in 2000, has raised over $30 million for the non-profit. Buffett's late wife, Susan Thompson Buffett,was a well-known resident and philanthropist in San Francisco.

Per the bidding website, GLIDE is described 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."

Similar to Berkshire Hathaway's stock price, the cost of a winning bid has risen substantially over the years. In 2000, the winning bid was $25,000 while the 2019's winning bid of $4.6 million, an increase of 187 times. In the same time period, Berkshire Hathaway's stock price has risen a mere 5.5 times.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Business Ideas

70 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2025

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2025.

Buying / Investing in Business

Big Investors Are Betting on This 'Unlisted' Stock

You can join them as an early-stage investor as this company disrupts a $1.3T market.

Buying / Investing in Business

From a $120M Acquisition to a $1.3T Market

Co-ownership is creating big opportunities for entrepreneurs.

Science & Technology

How AI Is Turning High School Students Into the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs

As AI reshapes education, students are turning school problems into products and building the future economy.

Leadership

My Business Hit $1 Million — Then a $46,000 Mistake Exposed the Biggest Bottleneck to Explosive Growth

How a costly mistake forced me to confront the real barrier to scaling and the changes that unlocked explosive growth beyond $1 million.