What Recession? Buffett Auction Price Triples

We take back what we said about Warren Buffett's bargain price. It looks as though the recession isn't having any effect on the market for sharing a steak with the famed investor and philanthropist.

On Friday, Chinese investor Zhao Danyang of Pureheart China Growth Investment Fund beat out 77 other bidders to win the annual eBay auction of a lunch date with Buffett; and his winning bid significantly surpassed the $620,100 that captured last year's prize.

Danyang's lunch at New York's Smith & Wollensky will cost him $2.1 million, all of which will be donated to Glide Foundation in San Francisco, which helps the poor and homeless of the Bay Area.

The winning bid also set a record for the most money ever donated via an eBay auction. The previous record was $800,100 for a celebrity-autographed Harley-Davidson donated by Jay Leno in 2005; the proceeds were used to aid victims of the Asian tsunami.

"It almost feels like a miracle," Glide's founder, Reverend Cecil Williams, said in a statement about the unprecedented donation. "We are amazed."

Danyang and Buffett should have a lot to talk about over their $2 million meal. The Hong Kong-based hedge-fund manager's financial practices are similar to Buffett's. Both have based investments on purchasing enduring companies at below-market prices.

Just two days before the auction ended, seven eBay customers had bid only $77,000 for the lunch, making it seem possible that the current economy was taking its toll on charitable giving. But the number of bidders spiked in the last 24 hours; maybe in times like these, the best investment of all is the chance to learn from Buffett himself.

by Marisa Rindone