Warren Buffett will dine with eBay auction winner for $19 million

Someone paid $19 million to go to lunch with Warren Buffett.

And no, it's not at a buffet. 

Buffett, the chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway, and an unidentified person are set to dine on steak after an eBay auction benefiting a California homeless charity ended Friday night, according to a news release from eBay.

Bidding started at $25,000 on June 12 and ended with a record-breaking $19,000,100 from an anonymous bidder, the news release reports.

Proceeds benefit Glide, a nonprofit in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district that helps people without homes or who are battling addictio. Glide offers meals, shelter, drug tests, job training and more.

"It's been nothing but good," Buffett said of past experiences dining with strangers, eBay reported. "I've met a lot of interesting people from all over the world. The one universal characteristic is that they feel the money is going to be put to very good uses."

This year's winning bidder won an afternoon with Buffett at a private lunch with up to seven guests at Smith & Wollensky Steakhouse in New York City, according to eBay.

Buffett, 91, has raised more than $53.2 million for Glide in 21 auctions, which began in 2000.

Winning bids have ranged from $25,000 to this year's highest-ever bid, eBay reported. Because of the pandemic, the last auction took place in 2019 with a winning bid of $4,567,888.

"Glide is grateful for our treasured friendship with Warren Buffet and partner eBay," the GLIDE President and CEO Karen Hanranhan posted on the nonprofit's website.