By GEOFFREY A. FOWLER
SAN FRANCISCO—The eleventh annual charity auction of lunch with Berkshire Hathaway Inc. CEO Warren Buffett brought in more than $2.6 million on Friday night.
That tally broke the previous record, set in 2008, of $2.1 million by investor Zhao Danyang.
Proceeds from the auction, conducted online by eBay Inc., benefit the Glide Foundation, a charity serving the homeless in San Francisco's Tenderloin district. Mr. Buffett decided to make the annual donation of his time because his late wife, Susan, had been a volunteer at Glide.
The high bidder in the auction for what may be the world's most expensive—or, some say, most valuable—steak lunch asked to remain anonymous, according to Glide staff. Last year's high bidder, who spent $1.68 million, was the Canadian investment firm Salida Capital.
Much of the bidding action happened in the last three minutes, when the bids rose from $2.5 million to a final tally of $2,626,311.
Rev. Cecil Williams, Glide's founder, said that the proceeds were needed to feed and support the poor. He said Glide had seen an almost 30% rise in the need for its services since the economic downturn, but also a 20% decrease in donations.
"I'm very excited," said Rev. Williams. "I think there is a groundswell taking place for people to be more concerned with nonprofit groups."
He had yet to speak with Mr. Buffett, who didn't make it to San Francisco for an auction countdown celebration.
"We are going to put the money where it counts," said Rev. Williams, especially services for young people who were being drawn into violence, and for housing.
The winner is allowed to bring a party of up to eight to the lunch, which typically takes place at Mr. Buffett's favorite New York City steakhouse, Smith & Wollensky. Previous winners have said that the investment themes they discussed during the meal turned out to be helpful.Share Investor Blog - Stockmarket & Business commentary
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