The winner and up to seven guests will attend a private dinner on June 24 in Omaha, Nebraska, with Buffett, Curry and Curry’s wife Ayesha Curry. The proceeds from the auction will be shared between two non-profit organisations, Glide Foundation and Eat. Learn. Play.
According to CNBC, Buffett has also agreed to match the winning bid for each non-profit, taking the total charitable contribution linked to the event to nearly $27 million. The fundraiser combines two globally recognised personalities from very different worlds, Buffett, one of history’s most successful investors, and Curry, one of basketball’s biggest modern stars.
Buffett, 95, built Berkshire Hathaway into one of the world’s largest conglomerates and is widely known as the “Oracle of Omaha” for his long-term investing success.
Curry, meanwhile, is among the most influential players in NBA history. The Golden State Warriors guard is a four-time NBA champion and two-time league MVP.
The auction is also one of the biggest celebrity charity fundraising events globally.Buffett previously raised around $53.2 million for Glide through 21 charity lunch auctions held between 2000 and 2022. CNBC reported that the record for the highest winning bid in those auctions was set in 2022 at $19 million, which eBay described as the largest amount ever paid in a charity auction on the platform.Glide, based in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district, works with homeless individuals, low-income communities and people battling substance abuse.
Buffett’s association with Glide dates back decades and began through his late first wife Susan Buffett, who volunteered with the organisation before her death in 2004.
The other beneficiary, Eat. Learn. Play., was founded by Stephen and Ayesha Curry and focuses on childhood nutrition, literacy and physical activity programmes.
The latest fundraiser also reflects Buffett’s long-standing approach to philanthropy.
The billionaire investor has repeatedly argued that successful businesses and charitable organisations can work together to create wider social impact. He has pledged to donate nearly all of his fortune, currently estimated by Forbes at around $143.5 billion, through a charitable trust overseen by his children.
