SAN FRANCISCO, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 4.57 million U.S. dollars has been raised from a record-breaking sale of an opportunity to lunch with U.S. billionaire Warren Buffett, the U.S. e-commerce leader eBay Inc. that supported the charity auction said Friday.
eBay said the anonymous highest bidder offered a total of 4,567,888 dollars to buy a seat for lunch with Buffett at the auction that opened on May 26 at a starting sum of 25,000 dollars and closed Friday evening in downtown San Francisco.
The profits from the sale will help support the Glide Foundation (GLIDE), a San Francisco-based charity group, in launching a comprehensive suite of social services that aid San Francisco's most vulnerable residents, including the homeless.
The sale is part of GLIDE's annual eBay for Charity Auction for a Power Lunch with Warren Buffett, which coincides with the 20th anniversary of the legendary auction.
According to eBay, until now, the auction has provided over 30 million dollars to support its efforts to provide charity relief for the most vulnerable population in the city.
"GLIDE has done tremendous work to alleviate suffering and break the cycles of poverty and marginalization in San Francisco. We are incredibly proud that this year's Power Lunch with Warren has broken our all-time record of funds raised," said eBay's President and CEO Devin Wenig.
GLIDE President and CEO Karen Hanrahan expressed appreciation to Buffett for "his unwavering friendship and dedication to this auction," noting that the funds raised through the auction would go directly to support GLIDE's charity programs and services.
GLIDE serves roughly 750,000 free meals for the needy ever year.
Buffett, chairman and CEO of the holding company Berkshire Hathaway that owns Dairy Queen, Fruit of the Loom and some other businesses, is well known for giving much of his fortune to charity organizations.
eBay has hosted the auction for 17 years in a row, and last year's bid raised 3.3 million dollars.
