Warren Buffett breaks million-dollar tradition at Tron CEO's request
Warren Buffett is moving his annual private lunch about 3,000 miles west at the request of Chinese entrepreneur and auction winner Justin Sun.
For nearly 20 years, since 2000, Buffett has auctioned off a pricey lunch at New York City's famous Smith & Wollensky steakhouse. The winning bidder is allowed to invite up to seven friends to dine with the Berkshire Hathaway CEO.
This year, Sun — the 29-year-old CEO of cryptocurrency platform Tron — placed a record-winning bid on eBay of $4,567,888. But the tech entrepreneur, who said he's planning to invite leaders in blockchain to the extravagant event, had one request for the billionaire: move the luncheon to the Bay Area, where Tron's U.S. headquarters are based.
It appears Buffett agreed to Sun's venue change.
This week, Sun announced the annual "Power of One Lunch" will take place on July 25 in San Francisco.
"The 20th annual @eBay #PowerOfOneLunch with @WarrenBuffett will take place July 25 in #SanFrancisco! We decided to move this year’s lunch to a restaurant in the Bay Area to further shine the spotlight on @GLIDEsf's amazing charitable efforts! More details coming soon!" Sun tweeted on Wednesday.
Buffett's annual auction has raised a total of almost $30 million for the Glide Foundation, which helps the homeless in San Francisco, since it started in 2000, The Wall Street Journal reported. Buffett began working with Glide through his late wife, Susan, who volunteered at the charity.
Bids to attend a private lunch with Buffett have soared in recent years, hitting the $1 million mark by 2008 and growing to more than $3 million in recent years, according to Motley Fool. Last year's winner paid $3.3 million, meaning, for a maxed out party, each guest's plate was worth more than $412,000.
In the past, Buffett has criticized cryptocurrency, claiming Wall Street is a safer bet when it comes to making smart investments. But he's recently changed his tune a bit, acknowledging in a recent interview that it could have potential.
Earlier this month, Sun said he was excited to meet with a "titan of investment" and he's hopeful it will "benefit everyone" involved.
"I'm looking forward to meeting a true pioneer in investing," Sun said in a June 3 news release. "I'm excited to talk to Warren Buffett about the promise of blockchain and to get valuable tips and insights from him about entrepreneurship and making bold bets on the future."
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Sun founded the app Peiwo, dubbed China’s Snapchat, before starting Tron.
Fox Business' Katherine Lam and Kathleen Joyce contributed to this report.