(Bloomberg) — The final day of bidding for Warren Buffett’s last charity lunch just got interesting.
As late as Thursday evening, the highest bid for a chance to eat with the billionaire investor and as many as seven guests at Smith & Wollensky in New York stood just above $3 million.
But the amount jumped more than threefold to $11 million at 11:03 a.m. Friday in New York, then increased to $12.3 million within a half hour.
#PowerofOneLunch! Use code “LOVE2022” to get your free tickets to the countdown party!
https://t.co/ud5QMUZWQC
— GLIDE (@GLIDEsf) June 16, 2022
Whoever wins the bidding war will easily shatter the record set in 2019 by cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun, who paid $4.57 million for the meal with the Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
chairman and chief executive officer. This year, there appears to be a back and forth between two of the five anonymous prospective diners, with a total of 34 bids so far.
This lunch auction will be Buffett’s last.
The annual affair — which started in 2000 and took a two-year hiatus during the pandemic — has raised more than $34 million to support Glide, which offers programs to address poverty and homelessness, particularly in San Francisco.
Bidding closes at 10:30 p.m. in New York.
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