Glide stunned as Warren Buffett lunch raises just $1 million
Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.
The last few minutes of bidding for the annual charity lunch with Warren Buffett[6] are normally happy ones for supporters of San Francisco's Glide Foundation.
In recent years, last-minute bidding has regularly pushed the price to record levels. Last year's lunch for eight almost tripled in the final minute of bidding, closing at $3.46 million.
With bidding nearing the $1 million mark by mid-afternoon Friday, expectations ran high that the lunch with the Berkshire Hathaway[7] Chairman and CEO (NYSE: BRK.A) (NYSE: BRK.B) could cross $4 million [8]for the first time.
But as the auction closed[9] at just $1,000,100, some attending the invitation-only countdown party at Restaurant Lulu in San Francisco could be heard speculating that a glitch must have occurred. At the party, I asked Alan Marks[10], eBay's (NASDAQ: EBAY) communications chief, about the possibility of a glitch. He defended the integrity of the auction.
As for the identity of the winning bidder, a Glide spokeswoman said late Friday, "The bidder wants to remain anonymous, at least for now."
Glide founders, the Rev. Cecil Williams[11] and his wife Janice Mirikitani[12], tried to put a brave face on the disappointing amount raised.
"A million dollars is nothing to sneeze at. Thank you very much," Mirikitani told Glide supporters.
But shortly after the auction closed, Williams told me there will likely be budget cuts as a result of the auction. Glide's annual budget is reportedly about $17 million, so last year's lunch accounted for about 20 percent of the budget. Williams wasn't sure what areas of Glide's services providing food and shelter to the less fortunate would be cut.
Mark Calvey covers banking and finance for the San Francisco Business Times.
References
- ^ Mark Calvey (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ Twitter (twitter.com)
- ^ LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com)
- ^ Google+ (plus.google.com)
- ^ Warren Buffett (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ Berkshire Hathaway (www.bizjournals.com)
- ^ could cross $4 million (www.bizjournals.com)
- ^ auction closed (www.ebay.com)
- ^ Alan Marks (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ Cecil Williams (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ Janice Mirikitani (feeds.bizjournals.com)