Since 2000, Buffett hosts a charity lunch called The Power of One Charity Auction Lunch every year. There was a hiatus in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid. The proceeds have been going to Glide Foundation, a San-Francisco-based nonprofit fighting poverty, hunger, and homelessness.
Some interesting stats that you might want to know.
The winning bid has been rising steadily over the years. The compounded annual growth rate was 39.3%! This is better than Berkshire’s 20-year return of 9% per year. It shows you how much reputation he has accrued.
There were two Singaporeans who had won the bids – Jason Choo in 2004 and Andy Chua in 2014. Jason Choo owns Gems TV which was once listed on the SGX. It has been delisted since 2014. Not much information was released about Andy Chua. Rumours identified him as the boss of Yun Nam Hair Care.
Ted Weschler was a hedge fund manager who won the bid in 2010 and 2011. Buffett liked him so much that he offered Weschler a job in Berkshire Hathaway. Today, Weschler is one of the key portfolio managers helping Buffett allocate billions.
Mohnish Pabrai and Guy Spier are fund managers too and they continue to be active in the investing scene today. They have written good books too – The Dhandho Investor by Mohnish Pabrai; The Education of an Investor by Guy Spier. Check them out if you haven’t already.
Buffett’s most ideologically different lunch mate got to be Justin Sun. Buffett is anti-crypto while Justin is the founder of TRON, a crypto blockchain network.
Here is the list of the winning bids and bidders for the entire history of Buffett’s charity lunches:
2000: $25,000 Pete Budlong
2001: $20,000 Jim Halperin and Scott Tilson
2002: $25,000 Jim Halperin and Scott Tilson
2003: $250,100 David Einhorn, Greenlight Capital
2004: $202,100 Jason Choo, Singapore
2005: $351,100 Anonymous
2006: $620,100 Yongping Duan, California
2007: $650,100 Mohnish Pabrai, Guy Spier, Harina Kapoor
2008: $2,110,100 Zhao Danyang, Pure Heart Asset Management, China
2009: $1,680,300 Courtenay Wolfe, Salida Capital, Canada
2010: $2,626,311 Ted Weschler
2011: $2,626,411 Ted Weschler
2012: $3,456,789 Anonymous
2013: $1,000,100 Anonymous
2014: $2,166,766, Andy Chua, Singapore
2015: $2,345,678 Zhu Ye, Dalian Zeus Entertainment Co, China
2016: $3,456,789 Anonymous
2017: $2,679,001 Anonymous
2018: $3,300,100 Anonymous
2019: $4,567,888 Justin Sun, TRON crypto
2020-2021: No auctions held
2022: $19,000,100 Anonymous
This is the last time Buffett is hosting the charity lunch. All good things come to an end.
If you can have lunch with anyone in this world for a price, who would it be?
