NEW YORK — A bidder agreed to pay $650,100 to have lunch with billionaire Warren Buffett, surpassing last year's record for the annual charity auction.
Mohnish Pabrai, an Irvine, California-based investor who models his investment style on Buffett's, won the right to dine with the 76-year-old chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK). The five-day online auction concluded on Friday night on eBay Inc.'s (EBAY) Web site.
It was Pabrai's fifth year of bidding but the first time he won. The top bid surged nearly $250,000 in the final hour.
"He has had a major influence on the way I've invested, and also on the way I give back," Pabrai, 43, said in an interview. "To the extent societal rules or the wiring of your brains make it easy to acquire a lot of assets, then to the extent you can, you should try to improve the world." |
