Chinese investor pays $2.1M to eat with Buffett

Zhao Danyang of the Hong Kong-based Pureheart China Growth Investment Fund won the auction, which ended Friday evening with a bid of $2,110,100.

A spokeswoman for the Glide Foundation, which receives all the proceeds from the auction, identified the winner Saturday.

It appears that Zhao and Buffett share a similar investment philosophy. But Zhao could not be reached Saturday, and no one answered the phone at Buffett's Omaha office.

The auction will provide a significant boost to Glide, which provides social services to the poor and homeless in San Francisco. The foundation operates on a $12 million annual budget, spokeswoman Denise Lamott said.

"It almost feels like a miracle," Glide's founder Reverend Cecil Williams said in a statement. "We are amazed and ready to continue our work of breaking the cycles of poverty."

Last year's lunch brought in $650,100.

A group of Glide staff members and supporters gathered in a small hotel ballroom Friday to watch the auction results. Lamott said there were shouts of celebration when the bids topped $1 million.

"It was absolutely unbelievable," Lamott said.

Zhao and up to seven friends will dine with Buffett at the Smith & Wollensky steakhouse in New York City whenever the two men can schedule it. Last year's winners collected their prize only Wednesday.