Would You Pay $19 Million To Eat Steak With Warren Buffett?

Indulgent meals have always come at a high cost. There have been plenty of expensive meals throughout history (via NPR). The high price tag can come from an extravagant menu, in celebration of a special occasion, or as a means to show off one's wealth. In one of the most notorious cases of this, which occurred between Cleopatra and Marc Antony, she dissolved one of the world's largest pearls (a value of 10 million Roman Sesterces) in a glass of vinegar and drank it (via Obscure Histories).

We might not be able to accurately compare the ancient Roman currency to the U.S. dollar, but there might be a new competitor for history's most expensive meal. No, it's not a $5,500 rarities dinner, which barely even holds a candle to the $20,000 dinner in 1865 (via NPR). The new winner comes in way above the others and the cause for the price tag likely isn't even the food, but the company. One anonymous bidder recently spent $19,000,100 for a steak lunch with Warren Buffet for themselves and seven guests at Smith & Wollensky's in New York, N.Y. (via eBay).

A cost of $19 million is more than most people may earn in a lifetime, but the auction winner chose to contribute that amount to spend lunch with a man whose earnings are envied by many (via eBay). According to Bloomberg, 91-year-old Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett's net worth was well above $100 billion as of March 2022.

This historic meal was organized as a part of the GLIDE and eBay Power of One Charity Auction Meal with Warren Buffett (via eBay). Bidding took place between June 12 and 17 with a starting bid of $25,000. The charity was created by Buffett's late wife Susie Buffett in 2001. The steak lunch has auctioned for as little as $25,000, but this year's winner set a new record for the charity. While the winning bidder has chosen to remain anonymous, they will join Buffett and seven of their own guests at a highly memorable lunch at Smith & Wollensky's steakhouse in New York City.

That total will also go to support the San Francisco-based charity GLIDE which, according to eBay, "provides opportunity, dignity, and unconditional love to the most vulnerable populations, empowering thousands of individuals and families to get off the streets, exit crisis into stability and find pathways out of poverty." 

eBay has partnered with Warren Buffet for the last 18 years, assisting by using its online auction platform to expand bidding from local participants to those across the globe.