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$3 Mln to Have Lunch with Billionaire | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Investor Warren Buffett speaks during the “United State of Women Summit” at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC, June 14, 2016. AFP


Washington, London-American billionaire Warren Buffett, who is the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc, has said the anonymous bidder who agreed last week at an annual charity auction to pay $3,456,789 to have lunch with him, matching the previous record high, is a woman.

“The one thing I will tell you, because we’re in this crowd: It’s a woman,” Buffett said at a United State of Women conference in Washington on Tuesday.

The winner and up to seven friends can dine with Buffett at the Smith & Wollensky steakhouse in midtown Manhattan.

An anonymous bidder also paid $3,456,789 to win the 2012 auction. Proceeds go to Glide, a San Francisco charity that provides food, healthcare and other services to people who are homeless,
poor or struggling with substance abuse.

Buffett has raised roughly $23.6 million for Glide in 17 auctions dating to 2000.

At least one prior winner was a woman. In 2009, Courtenay Wolfe of Canada’s Salida Capital prevailed with a $1,680,300 bid.

Buffett called Glide, led by the Rev. Cecil Williams and his wife Janice Mirikitani, a “remarkable social organization,” and encouraged higher bids in 2017.

“If you’d like to buy it next year, $3.5 million is just a suggested price,” he told the audience. “Plus tip, of course, for the lunch.”

A webcast of Buffett’s comments was available on YouTube.