Chowing down with Warren Buffett is going to be more expensive this year.
Bids for the annual charity lunch auction with the Oracle of Omaha reached $2.6 million early Friday. That’s already above last year’s winning bid of $2.3 million. Bidding on eBay closes at 10:30 p.m. ET Friday.
Bids started at $25,000 on June 5, and were only as high as $500,000 late Thursday. Then a bidding war started between two bidders. Bidders have to be pre-approved.
Money raised by the auction goes to GLIDE, a charity that runs a number of anti-poverty programs in San Francisco.
Buffett’s late wife Susie Buffett came up with the idea for the charity power lunch, which started in 2000. Since then it’s raised more than $20 million, collecting a record $3.5 million in 2012 alone.
The winning bidder will get a chance to invite up to seven friends to the lunch at Smith & Wollensky steakhouse in New York City.