One of the most well-known investors of the past 50 years has been Berkshire Hathaway Inc BRKBRK CEO Warren Buffett, who is famed for his investment style and philanthropic efforts.
For several years, Buffett participated in a charity auction to have lunch with the billionaire, an event that often attracted millions of dollars in bids for a potential one-on-one meeting with the "Oracle of Omaha."
What Happened: In 2022, a record $19 million was paid to have lunch with Buffett as part of an annual charity auction to benefit The Glide Foundation.
The San Francisco-based charity provides meals, health care, job training and housing for the poor and homeless in the San Francisco region, according to the Associated Press.
In 2022, Buffett announced the auction for a lunch with the billionaire would be the last under a multi-year effort that raised $53 million for The Glide Foundation.
Buffett was introduced to the charity organization by his first wife Susan Buffett, who previously volunteered for The Glide Foundation.
From 2008 to 2022, each annual lunch auction raised at least $1 million with the 2022 hitting a record amount.
The 2010 and 2011 lunches were won by Ted Weschler, who spent more than $5 million combined for the two lunches with Buffett. The two lunches may have paid off for Weschler as he now works as an investment manager at Berkshire Hathaway. Weschler received a job offer from Berkshire after the charity lunches.
Related Link: ‘In A Perfect World, Nobody Would Know About This’: How Warren Buffett’s Fund Manager Turned $70K Into $264M
What's Next: With Buffett no longer participating, The Glide Foundation has turned to another billionaire to restart the charity lunch auction for 2024.
Salesforce Inc CRM co-founder and CEO Marc Benioff is the new billionaire that people can bid on to have lunch with and help support the charity.
"We are so grateful that Marc Benioff is continuing Warren Buffett's legacy of supporting San Francisco's most vulnerable," Glide President and CEO Dr. Gina M. Fromer said.
Benioff said he's "incredibly humbled to continue Warren's legacy" with the charity lunch auction.
Buffett appeared to sign off on the charity lunch auctions continuing and with Benioff stepping in.
"The baton is in the right hands with Marc Benioff," Buffett said. "He's going to do a wonderful job improving on what I did over the years. With Marc's enthusiasm and commitment, along with GLIDE's leadership and volunteers, GLIDE will be able to continue providing its vital services for San Francisco."
The auction for the lunch with Benioff will begin on May 5 and be conducted in partnership with auction and e-commerce company eBay Inc EBAY. The auction will run through May 10 and has a starting price of $25,000.
Benioff is worth $10.5 billion, ranking 224th worldwide according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. While this trails Buffett ($133 billion, 10th in world), a lunch meeting with Benioff could be significant for the right person.
The billionaire is a University of Southern California (USC) graduate and on its board of trustees. Benioff is also on the board of trustees for the World Economic Forum.
Benioff co-founded Salesforce in 1999 after stints as an intern at Apple and spending 13 years at software company Oracle Corp. Benioff is also the owner of TIME magazine and the founder of venture capital fund Time Ventures.
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