Buffett lunch: Bidding for an exclusive lunch with Warren Buffett is under way and so far the price to beat is some $2.3 million. For the vast majority of the world, this is an enormous amount of money and a near record for the annual fundraiser that benefits GLIDE, a charity that serves the poor and homeless. On the Steve Schwarzman scale - named after the private-equity titan who spent millions on a lavish 60th birthday bash - it's a bargain.
The truly wealthy, after all, have plenty of money. The top one per cent of US taxpayers saw their income double between 1990 and 2005, compared to the middle class's more meagre 13 per cent increase, according to Congressional Budget Office data. Money's the easy part. Bragging rights are much harder to come by.
Schwarzman certainly got tongues wagging when he scored Rod Stewart for a cool $1 million to entertain 500 friends at his over-the-top party in 2007. According to some accounts, the 60-plus-year-old rocker of "Do ya think I'm sexy?" fame performed for just a half hour. Scaled for a three-hour meal with Buffett, the top bid could go to $6 million before it reaches Schwarzman-like heights.
Then there's the ultimate vanity plate for the uber-wealthy of a certain cut: owning a professional sports team. Joshua Harris of Apollo Management is going after the Philadelphia 76ers, while David Einhorn has pledged $200 million for a slice of the Mets. Einhorn will spend the equivalent of 85 Buffett dinners at the current bid price.
And Davos? Top-tier membership in the World Economic Forum, which runs the members-only mixer, can run north of $600,000 for elite card-carrying strategic partners. But then there's transport to the annual gathering to consider and, if a member really wants to make a mark with friends and clients, a cocktail party or dinner to finance.
Yet, for the cost, it's hardly exclusive - 100 companies belong to the Davos strategic partners club. A lunch with one of the most influential investors in the world - not to mention one who has the inside dope on this year's most salacious insider-trading story - is far more precious. Moreover, the proceeds go to charity. That's hard to beat.
