<img width="1024" height="576" src="https://cms.qz.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/AP_080701013528-e1556987527456-1.jpg?quality=80&strip=all&w=1024" class="attachment-medium_10 size-medium_10 wp-post-image" alt="" srcset="https://cms.qz.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/AP_080701013528-e1556987527456-1.jpg 2213w, https://cms.qz.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/AP_080701013528-e1556987527456-1.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https://cms.qz.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/AP_080701013528-e1556987527456-1.jpg?resize=50,28 50w, https://cms.qz.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/AP_080701013528-e1556987527456-1.jpg?resize=160,90 160w, https://cms.qz.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/AP_080701013528-e1556987527456-1.jpg?resize=320,180 320w, https://cms.qz.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/AP_080701013528-e1556987527456-1.jpg?resize=640,360 640w, https://cms.qz.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/AP_080701013528-e1556987527456-1.jpg?resize=940,529 940w, https://cms.qz.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/AP_080701013528-e1556987527456-1.jpg?resize=1600,900 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><p>It&#8217;s not cheap to have lunch with the world&#8217;s third richest man, but it is for a good cause. Every year, Warren Buffett, who has an <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/warren-buffett/#3d5106ab4639">estimated net worth</a> of $83.3 billion, auctions off the chance to have a personal meal with the Oracle of Omaha. Since 2000, the investor has donated the proceeds to <a href="https://www.glide.org/">GLIDE Memorial foundation</a>, a San Francisco institution that helps the poor, homeless, and most vulnerable.</p>
<p>Since its inception, the <a href="https://www.ebay.com/rpp/glide" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ebay.com/rpp/glide&source=gmail&ust=1558798412898000&usg=AFQjCNGnWlIopLuCHjH0-pqeyNQYup93cQ">Power Lunch with Warren Buffett auction</a> has raised more than $30 million. Initially, bids for Buffett&#8217;s time, auctioned off at a local San Francisco event, were relatively low. Wayne Heldt and Diane Lee snagged the honor in 2001 for a meager $18,600. But that was before eBay got involved. Once the auction site presented the opportunity to the world&#8217;s 1%, prices quickly rose and now regularly exceed $3 million.</p>
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<p>If you&#8217;re interested, the winner of this year&#8217;s Power Lunch with <a href="https://www.ebay.com/rpp/glide">Warren Buffett</a> will dine with him at the New York high-end steakhouse <a href="https://www.smithandwollensky.com/menus/">Smith & Wollensky</a>.</p>
<p>Buffett started the tradition at his wife&#8217;s suggestion, reports GLIDE. “It makes a difference, and it translates into human beings finding that there is hope in life and that something better is there,” Buffett said, according to a statement. “The rest of the society may have given up on them, but GLIDE is going to give them a chance to find out what their real potential is.  And the people that buy lunch feel good about that, I feel good about that. The most important thing, though, is what it does to resurrect many thousands of people from hopelessness.”</p>
<p>This year&#8217;s opening bid is $25,000. You have until May 31.</p>