Mystery Bidder Pays Rp158 Billion for Dinner with Warren Buffett
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Investment guru Warren Buffett will once again attend his famous charity luncheon.
A mystery bidder paid more than US$9 million, or approximately Rp158.43 billion, to win the auction to have lunch with the “Oracle of Omaha,” who last participated in the event in 2022.
Quoting The Wall Street Journal, the winner will meet with Buffett, who is the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, for lunch on June 24 in Omaha, Nebraska. They will be accompanied by famous Golden State Warriors basketball player, Steph Curry, and his wife, entrepreneur Ayesha Curry. The winning bidder can bring up to seven guests.
The winning bid this year is a sharp decrease from the last time Buffett participated in the luncheon in 2022, when an anonymous bidder paid a record US$19 million. The 95-year-old Buffett has helped raise more than US$50 million for Glide, a noble cause pioneered by his first wife, Susie Buffett, who passed away in 2004.
“At age 92, I’m running out of gas. The fire still burns, but the body is weakening,” Buffett said, quoted by The Wall Street Journal, Saturday (May 16, 2026).
“Both the money and the message still matter.”
This charity luncheon has long been considered in the business world as a rare opportunity to spend time with the legendary investor, who retired as CEO of Berkshire in December.
Ted Weschler, who is now a Berkshire investment manager, won the auction twice when he was still a hedge fund manager, paying more than US$2 million each time. Crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun was another previous winner. Sun said he gave Buffett, who is skeptical of crypto, one bitcoin, as well as some Tron, a digital token from the blockchain he founded, during their lunch in 2020.
Five bidders participated in this year’s auction on eBay, which opened with a price of US$50,000. Other items auctioned included a US$1 bill signed by Buffett, which sold for US$9,100, and a signed Curry jersey, which sold for US$1,547.99.
The auction was moved online in 2003, allowing Buffett fans around the world to participate. The highest price for the luncheon has remained above US$1 million since 2008.
The proceeds from this year’s auction will be split between the Glide charity and the Curry family’s Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation, which provides food and reading resources for students in Oakland, California. Glide provides food, healthcare, and legal assistance to the homeless and other vulnerable individuals in San Francisco.
(fsd/fsd)