\n
![](\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/GettyImages-1930603413-e1712702680256.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/p>\n [ad_1]
\n<\/p>\n
The California homeless charity that received $53 million over the years from investors who wanted a private lunch with billionaire Warren Buffett has found a new business executive to auction off a meal with.<\/p>\n
The Glide Foundation said Tuesday that it will hold an auction on eBay next month for a private lunch with Salesforce Chairman and CEO\u00a0Marc Benioff.<\/a>\u00a0The San Francisco-based charity helps the homeless and those in poverty in the same city where Benioff oversees a software empire.<\/p>\n The\u00a0final auction<\/a>\u00a0of a lunch with Buffett two years ago attracted a record $19 million price that isn\u2019t likely to be matched. The revered investor has legions of devoted followers who fill an Omaha arena every spring at Berkshire Hathaway\u2019s\u00a0annual meeting<\/a>\u00a0to listen to Buffett\u2019s insights, and he had said ahead of time that 2022 would be his\u00a0last auction<\/a>.<\/p>\n Still, Glide hopes that the Benioff auction will also raise significant funds to support the organization\u2019s $31 million budget, which provides meals, health care, job training, rehabilitation and housing for the poor and homeless. Buffett said it always amazed him how the charity helped people in difficult situations find hope again.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are so grateful that Marc Benioff is continuing Warren Buffett\u2019s legacy of supporting San Francisco\u2019s most vulnerable,\u201d said Dr. Gina M. Fromer, Glide\u2019s President and CEO.<\/p>\n Buffett\u2019s first wife, Susie, introduced him to Glide after she volunteered there following her move to the city, and she suggested starting the lunch auction in 2000. She died in 2004, but the connection endured.<\/p>\n Buffett endorsed the new arrangement from his office at Berkshire\u2019s small headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska. Benioff has urged his fellow CEOs to do more to help the homeless and remedy the inequalities in society that they\u00a0helped create<\/a>. He\u2019s also taken stands on polarizing issues such as gay rights, climate change and gun control.<\/p>\n \u201cThe baton is in the right hands with Marc Benioff,\u201d Buffett said. \u201cHe\u2019s going to do a wonderful job improving on what I did over the years. With Marc\u2019s enthusiasm and commitment, along with GLIDE\u2019s leadership and volunteers, GLIDE will be able to continue providing its vital services for San Francisco.\u201d<\/p>\n Benioff said he\u2019s \u201cincredibly humbled to continue Warren\u2019s legacy\u201d with the lunch auction.<\/p>\n Just as the Buffett auctions did, the weeklong Benioff lunch auction will begin May 5 with an opening bid of $25,000 and continue through June 10.<\/p>\n Organizers have their work cut out for them if they\u2019re attempting to match Buffett\u2019s record. Starting in 2008, every winning bid for lunch with the investing giant topped $1 million.<\/p>\n One past winner, Ted Weschler, received a job offer from Buffett\u2019s company after he spent nearly $5.3 million on two auctions in 2010 and 2011. Weschler now works as an\u00a0investment manager<\/a>\u00a0for the conglomerate, which owns an eclectic assortment of companies including Geico insurance, BNSF railroad, See\u2019s Candy, several major utilities and Dairy Queen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nSubscribe to CHRO Daily, our newsletter focusing on helping HR executive navigate the changing needs of the workplace. Sign up<\/a> for free.<\/div>\n