An anonymous bidder paid more than $9 million to have lunch with NBA legend Stephen Curry and the 'Oracle of Omaha' Warren Buffett. The auction on eBay was intended to revive an event that Buffett hosted for more than two decades that raised $53 million for the GLIDE Foundation homeless charity in San Francisco. This year's auction wrapped up on Thursday night and also raised money for Curry's Eat.Learn.Play. Foundation that the 38-year-old established with his wife, Ayesha, 37.
The anonymous winner paid $9,000,100 to win a private lunch for themselves and seven guests, with Buffett and the Currys in the 95-year-old investor's hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, on June 24. The legendary investor also promised to match the winning bid to benefit his favorite charity.
'We're overwhelmed with gratitude for this opportunity, which reflects a shared belief that when different generations and institutions come together with purpose, we can create deeper and more lasting impact for the people who need it most,' the Currys said in a statement. 'Every child deserves access to nutritious meals, quality education and safe places to play and grow. Through Eat. Learn. Play., we've seen firsthand how investing in kids and families can strengthen entire communities,' they continued.
Glide is a nonprofit in San Francisco's Tenderloin district that helps people who are poor, homeless and battling substance abuse. Buffett raised about $53.2 million for Glide in 21 auctions between 2000 and 2022. An anonymous bidder paid $9,000,100 on eBay for a private lunch with Warren Buffett and Stephen Curry and his wife Ayesha in Omaha, Nebraska. Warren Buffett pledged to personally match the winning bid, dramatically increasing the amount raised for charity. Stephen and Ayesha Curry said in a statement they were 'overwhelmed with gratitude' for the opportunity to support children and families through the fundraiser.
He began supporting Glide after his first wife Susan volunteered there. She died in 2004. The Buffett auctions started in 2000 and continued every year until the pandemic prompted a couple years off. Starting in 2008, every winning bid for lunch with the investing giant topped $1 million. He discontinued the event after someone paid $19 million for a lunch in 2022. A follow-up auction in 2024 raised $1.5 million for a lunch with software titan Marc Benioff, but that version of the event didn't last.
Buffett reached out to the Currys to ask them to join the lunch auction this year. Buffett's matching brings the total amount raised to about $27 million. Curry missed 27 games this season before returning to help the Golden State Warriors down the stretch. The identity of the winning bidder who paid $9 million to lunch remains a mystery. Buffett stepped down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway in January after six decades of leading the conglomerate. He remains chairman, but just sat through his first annual shareholder meeting sitting in the audience instead of leading the event from stage. He is donating nearly all his remaining fortune, estimated at $143.5 billion by Forbes magazine, to a charitable trust overseen by his three children.
