Lunch with Bill Ackman is up for auction - and with bidding at $41,000, it's a bargain compared with Warren Buffett's $19 million
- Bids for a charity lunch with billionaire investor Bill Ackman have reached $41,000 as of Friday.
- An auction for a steak lunch with Warren Buffett sold for $19 million to a mystery bidder in June.
A private lunch with billionaire investor Bill Ackman is up for grabs in a charity auction — and as the top bid stands at $41,000 on Friday, it looks to be a steal compared with a steak meal with Warren Buffett that sold for $19 million.
Bidding closes Monday for the chance to eat with the Pershing Square CEO and a guest, with proceeds going to New York healthcare workers, police, firefighters and military veterans. Ackman will match the winning amount, according to auction's beneficiary, the David Lynch Foundation.
Ackman's charity lunch follows a philanthropic path set by Warren Buffett, who has had lunch with successful bidders since 2000 and has raised $52 million along the way.
In June, the mystery winner pledged a record $19,000,100 to dine with the Berkshire Hathaway boss along with up to seven guests — likely because it will be the last auction in which Buffett will take part.
Like the Oracle of Omaha, Ackman — labeled "Baby Buffett" by Forbes in 2015 — is widely followed for insights into his investing prowess. His Pershing Square hedge fund made about $5 billion in profits in the three years via a couple of shrewd hedges: betting that pandemic fears would roil markets and that interest rates would rise.
The hedge fund boss has been vocal in his admiration for Buffett, calling him an "unofficial mentor" and quoting the Berkshire Hathaway boss to explain his own decisions. But Ackman said in 2020 that Pershing Square had "probably lost more money in Berkshire than anyone in the world" and pulled its stake in the company after it proved less aggressive in the markets than expected.