Chinese Gaming Company Posts Winning Bid of $2.35 Million

Every year, Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett auctions off an invitation to lunch on Ebay.

The winning bidder can bring up to seven friends. The group of eight, plus Warren Buffett (who is currently the world's third richest man), will then lunch at NY steakhouse Smith and Wollensky. The proceeds of the auction are donated to GLIDE, which is a charity that benefits the poverty-stricken.

Every year, eyebrows are raised when the amount of the final bid reaches the news. This year was no different, as Chinese gaming company Da Lian Zeus Entertainment bid $2.35 million for the chance to lunch with the "Oracle of Omaha".

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In addition to getting their name in the news, the winning bidder also gets the chance to pick the brain of the world's greatest investor over a lunch of steak, hashbrowns and Coca-Cola. Buffett will dispense some sage advice over the course of the multi-hour lunch and the groups will then go their separate ways. In one special case, Warren Buffett ended up hiring one of the bid winners to work for him at Berkshire Hathaway. According to CNN, Ted Weschler won the auction two years in a row and was eventually hired by Buffett.

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The highest ever winning bid was the $3.5 million that was paid out by an anonymous bidder in 2012.

Last year's lunch auction was won by Andy Chua, who paid out a reported $2.2 million for the opportunity to break bread with Buffett.

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The last few years have been busy ones for Warren Buffett, as he had bagged a couple of "elephants" in the form of a private purchase of Heinz and a subsequent merger with Kraft Foods Group.

Shares of Berkshire Hathaway are currently trading at $211,560.00, which is about $18,000 under its 52 week high of $229,374.00.

Source: CNN.com - Lunch With Warren Buffett Goes For $2.3 Million

Filed under: General Knowledge