A $2.11 Million Lunch

Filed in archive Hedgetalk on June 30, 2008

Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Eremin Sergey

Hedge fund manager Zhao Danyang, who runs Hong Kong-based Pureheart China Growth Investment Fund, had the winning bid for a lunch with Warren Buffet in an eBay Inc auction.

According to Reuters, Buffett began donating lunches in 2000 after his wife Susan introduced him to the Rev. Cecil Williams, who founded Glide and runs the Glide Memorial United Methodist Church. The auctions, including the current one, have grossed more than $4 million for the organization. Last year's winning bidder paid $650,000 for lunch with Buffett.

Zhao and up to seven friends will meet Buffett for lunch in New York City at the Smith & Wollensky steakhouse.

Proceeds of the lunch with the 77-year-old chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc benefit Glide, a nonprofit foundation in San Francisco that offers programs for the poor, hungry and homeless.

Zhao, who has more than a decade of investing experience, selects investments "from the view of an industrial investor," according to his firm's website.