Bids have started rolling in for the chance to eat alongside billionaire investor Bill Ackman, an annual charity auction that emulates Warren Buffett’s popular philanthropic lunch.
So far, more than a dozen bids have been received to dine with the chief executive officer of Pershing Square Capital Management, and the price had risen to $25,500 as of 10:22 a.m. Thursday in New York. The auction, which started Dec. 6 at $15,000, closes on Monday. The winning bidder can invite a guest, but the location of the lunch has not yet been determined.
This is the fifth time that Ackman has auctioned off a lunch for charity, and the highest winning bid in past years was $210,000.
Buffett started auctioning a lunch in 2000 and last June set a record when an anonymous bidder paid just over $19 million to eat with the Berkshire Hathaway titan and up to seven guests at New York steakhouse Smith & Wollensky.
The proceeds from Ackman’s lunch auction will go toward helping “New York’s frontline healthcare workers, police and veterans who battle anxiety, depression, addiction and suicidality every day,” according to the website. The benefit is run in partnership with the David Lynch Foundation, a charity that aims to help heal trauma and toxic stress through transcendental meditation.
Ackman plans to match the winning bid to support the foundation. This year is the first time the auction will not be hosted by Charitybuzz, a company that hosts online charity auctions with notable celebrities and brands.
Ackman railed against the charity auction website on Twitter, saying that he ended his partnership with the company after he discovered they pocketed 20% of the auction price in addition to charging the highest bidder a 10% fee. Charitybuzz did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.