Lunch With One Of The World’s Richest Men Costs $3.5 million!

One anonymous bidder is paying almost $3.5m to have lunch with Warren Buffett – the world’s third-richest person with a $66bn fortune, according to Forbes magazine.

But the $3,456,789 (£2.42m) won’t be going straight into the pockets of the billionaire, instead it will help a San Francisco homeless charity called Glide.

This year’s winning bid equals the record set in 2012 and was more than $1m higher than the $2,345,678 paid last year by the boss of China’s Dalian Zeus Entertainment. Zhu Ye, chief executive of the gaming company, called the chance to dine with Buffett a dream come true.

The week-long auction was conducted on eBay and this year’s prize also became the joint most expensive individual charity item sold on the site.

Six of the past eight winners have paid more than $2m for lunch with Buffett.

His late wife Susie was involved with Glide and Buffett has maintained the relationship following her death in 2004.

Rev Cecil Williams, one of Glide’s co-founders, said: “We are astonished by the results of this year’s auction and send heartfelt gratitude to Mr. Buffett for his deep investment in unconditional love and community.”

Glide serves more than 850,000 meals a year, provides housing and health services as well as helping people to break out of poverty. Buffett said he was proud to be involved with an organisation that had helped so many people in need: “Glide is a bridge for thousands of people on the brink of despair, helping them achieve dignity and opportunity by providing them with basic services” he commented.

What makes this story more remarkable is that we reported back in February (22.2.16 ‘Wealthy Jerk Doesn’t Want To See The Homeless’) when “technology entrepreneur and startup founder” Justin Keller sparked controversy after he wrote an open letter to the mayor and police chief of San Francisco.

He complained that “wealthy working people have earned their right to live in the city” without passing by homeless people on a regular basis. “I shouldn’t have to see the pain, struggle, and despair of homeless people to and from my way to work,” Keller wrote.

It is the 15th year that the charity Glide has auctioned a lunch with Mr. Buffett, who has helped it to raise more than $20m. So, the question is – if Glide has received an astounding $20 million over the past 15 years, why are there still so many homeless on the streets of San Francisco?