By Jonathan Stempel
March 31 (Reuters) - Warren Buffett is reviving his famous charity lunch, this time teaming up with basketball superstar Stephen Curry to spend time with the winner of an auction.
Bidding on eBay will begin on May 7 and last through May 14. The winner can invite up to seven guests to dine with Buffett, Curry and his wife Ayesha Curry on June 24 in Omaha, Nebraska, where Buffett's conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway is based.
Proceeds will be divided equally between two charities, the
Glide Foundation and Eat. Learn. Play. Buffett told CNBC he will match the winning bidder's donation.
Glide is a nonprofit in San Francisco's Tenderloin district that helps the poor, homeless and those battling substance abuse. Eat. Learn. Play. was founded by Stephen and Ayesha Curry, and focuses on nutritious meals, childhood literacy and maintaining physically active lifestyles.
The auction could benefit from the star power of Curry, a four-time National Basketball Association champion and two-time Most Valuable Player. Buffett called the Golden State Warriors guard "the hero of millions and millions of people."
In a statement, Stephen and Ayesha Curry said the auction could help students and families throughout the San Francisco area. "Access can open doors, but what matters most is what you do with it," they said.
Buffett, 95, is donating nearly all of his fortune to charity, and has long believed that businesses and nonprofits can work together to create real change.
The legendary investor began supporting Glide after his first wife, Susan, introduced him to the charity, where she volunteered. She died in 2004.
Buffett raised about $53.2 million for Glide in 21 auctions between 2000 and 2022. The final winner paid $19 million, more than four times the previous high.
Glide was long overseen by Cecil Williams and his wife Janice Mirikitani, who died in 2024 and 2021, respectively. Williams was also pastor of the affiliated Glide Memorial Church.
"He believed everybody was worthwhile and the world had given up on these people," Buffett told CNBC. "He never gave up on anybody.”
Buffett was Berkshire's chief executive for 60 years before Greg Abel succeeded him on January 1. He remains chairman.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
