Last time, one last time!
The chance to eat with "Stock God" Buffett
Don't miss it
It is said that there is no free lunch in the world, but if you talk about the "most expensive" lunch, you will definitely think of that name - Warren Buffett.
Just this week, "Lunch with Buffett," a myth in the wealth community, announced that it would open the auction again, after the event had been canceled for two years due to the pandemic.
Even more gimmicky, Buffett, 92, said it was the "last lunch" and there would be no more similar events after that.
Over the past 20 years, "Lunch with Buffett" has created many wonderful stories in the world of the world's rich.
Some people have asked for the "True Scriptures", some people have spent a lot of money just to see the idols, and some people have taken the stock god as the object of speculation and consumption.
In this process, many Chinese faces that we are familiar with have appeared.
From BBK boss Duan Yongping to sun Yuchen, a ghost in the post-90s coin circle, the dramas have been played one after another, allowing ordinary people to see a more real other side of the wealth circle.
01
The Last Lunch
This year's auction will take place on eBay as in previous years, starting a week-long june 12 with a starting price of $25,000.
Considering that this is the last edition, the US media predicts that the final hammer price is likely to exceed $5 million.
Dealers will be able to take up to 7 companions to the Smith & Wollensky Steakhouse in New York City for a 3-hour lunch with Buffett.
Buffett's own standard set menu is very simple, a five-minute cooked steak served with potato pancakes and favorite cherry coke, sometimes with some dessert.
But what to eat, it doesn't matter here.
As a legend in the investment world, Buffett's concept of value investment is enshrined as the truth by global investors. For half a century, his name represented the pinnacle of human personal wealth.
By this year, buffett, 92, can still rank sixth in the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, with a total asset of $111.3 billion, surpassing Facebook founder Zach Burke and other descendants.
During the three hours of lunch with him, you can talk freely with Buffett and talk about any topic you want, and the only taboo is that you can't discuss individual stocks, such as asking Buffett to recommend a stock.
After all, for Buffett, the act of recommending stocks to teach people to fish is undoubtedly a great self-deprecation, and people who are eager for wealth want to know the secret of his success, such as his investment logic, the way of thinking about things, or the way of looking at the world.
What's more, he didn't ask for anything, just wanted to be able to spend 3 hours at the same table with his idol, showing admiration, and spending thousands of dollars.
2007 winning bidder Guy Spear, who spent $650,000 on a meal with his idol, said in an interview afterwards that "every second was worth it." He also published books such as "5 Truths I Had an Epiphany at Lunch with Buffett" and "How Buffett Made Me a True Value Investor", saying that he had found the right investment path.
As for Buffett himself, he also enjoys the process, on the one hand, he can meet these outstanding juniors and see what the younger generation is thinking now, on the other hand, he can really help his own charity plan.
"Lunch with Buffett" began in 2000 when Susan, the wife of the god of stock, launched the program to raise money for the Glade Foundation to help the homeless.
The starting price of each year's lunch is $25,000, the first three years have few competitors, the first and third sessions are all starting price hammers, and the second session is even sold for $20,000 below the starting price.
But by 2003, "Lunch with Buffett" caught up with the Internet boom, and auctions began on eBay, with a flood of participants and a sudden rise in price to $250,000.
After that, the ticket money for this lunch was like a rocket, soaring at 350,000, 2.11 million, and 3.45 million, until 2019, when the Chinese billionaire Sun Yuchen's $4.56 million made history again. Buffett has raised more than $34 million through the campaign.
02
Chinese faces one after the other
For Chinese investors and netizens, Buffett's lunch is not far away.
In the past 20 years, four Chinese entrepreneurs have become guests, and the stories brought back each time are wonderful.
In 2006, BBK boss Duan Yongping became the first Chinese to have lunch with Buffett, when he paid $620,100, and the American media laughed at him for being "deceived" because the previous year's price was only $350,000.
At that time, Duan Yongping had immigrated to the United States and concentrated on investment. He has always taken the investment philosophy in Buffett's book as a guideline, and has made a lot of money from $1 netease stock, hoping to have the opportunity to see the stock god in person.
"This meal is priceless and it can't be overstated." He said he just wanted to thank Buffett in person.
Duan Yongping took Huang Zheng after the 80s to the appointment. Huang Zheng, who later became the founder of Pinduoduo, recalled that Buffett said something particularly simple, "words that my mother could understand", and this meal made him realize the power of "simplicity and common sense".
The second Chinese to dine with Buffett was Zhao Danyang, known as the "Godfather of Private Equity," who bid $2.11 million in 2008.
These 3 hours made Zhao Danyang harvest a lot, "Buffett has experienced a lot of economic cycles, after I asked him some key points, you don't have to wait for the next cycle to confirm, you can take a lot of detours." ”
After the two met, Buffett asked him, "How's the revenue this year?" ”
Zhao Danyang replied: "47%. ”
Buffett said, "Then you're better than me." ”
Zhao Danyang also dared to recommend Wumart Commercial stocks to Buffett at the dinner table, and Buffett politely said "I will go back to study and research."
The news soon went away, and by the time Zhao Danyang's plane landed on the ground and returned home, the stock had risen 24 percent, and Zhao Danyang had made $14 million from the meal.
Buffett only then returned the taste and has since established the rule of "not talking about individual stocks".
Of course, not everyone can change their fate with a single lunch.
In 2015, Zhu Ye, the 31st richest person on the Hurun IT list and founder of Tianshen Entertainment, won the Buffett lunch bid for $2.34 million. In the domestic game circle at that time, Zhu Ye was the most prosperous time.
He has a heart for learning, and when he sees the stock god, he humbly asks for advice: "I can do business, but I can't speculate in stocks." "The implication is naturally that you are asking you to teach me.
Buffett smiled, did not talk much about stocks, but gave him a sentence:
"Following your own concept of value investment, if you think the value of this business is worth buying, then buy it."
After returning to China, Zhu Ye began a series of radical mergers and acquisitions, several times using high premiums to buy shares of Internet, film and television and advertising companies.
By 2018, the company had lost 7.5 billion yuan. He was also investigated by the SECURITIES Regulatory Commission for suspected violations of securities laws and regulations, and the chairman of Tianshen Entertainment was forced to change his position.
03
China's post-90s generation that releases divine pigeons
Financial writer Wu Xiaobo once said: Buffett's lunch itself is a show, a consumer behavior, Buffett and the winning bidder are each other's consumption objects.
Of course, Buffett understands that he is also the object of consumption and even use in this meal, but the appearance of Sun Yuchen, a post-90s Chinese boy, has obviously refreshed his cognition.
Readers familiar with this story now have a bad smile on their lips.
Sun Yuchen has a strong academic qualification, successively studied at Peking University and the University of Pennsylvania, and his entrepreneurial experience has focused on the coin circle, and in 2017, he founded the Chinese blockchain project "Trontron".
In June 2019, the Chinese blockchain evangelist saw the opportunity to auction off a lunch table for a record $4.568 million.
This is the 20th anniversary of Buffett's charity luncheon, and it is of great significance. The competition in that auction was quite fierce, and another bidder and Sun Yuchen bid each other for a long time, and in the end, Sun Yuchen's urgency was even better.
Just two days before the appointment, in the early morning of July 23, Sun Yuchen suddenly announced on Weibo:
"I am being treated in the hospital for a sudden kidney stone, so I canceled my lunch meeting with Mr. Buffett for some reason. The donation to the Glade Foundation has been completed and remains valid. ”
Public opinion suddenly exploded, and everyone generally believed that Sun Yuchen was pretending to be ill and releasing a god pigeon to hype.
Two days later, Sun Yuchen posted an apology letter on Weibo, saying that because he was young and unguarded, he had gradually evolved into an out-of-control over-marketing.
Around the same time, Sun Yuchen was investigated for potential illegal business activities and banned from leaving the country. Rumors abound.
Fortunately, Buffett was still very generous, and after 6 months, the meal was completed. Sun Yuchen posted a photo on Twitter, saying that he had dinner with Buffett on January 23, 2020, and he also gave Buffett a bitcoin.
This gift is actually very interesting, because Buffett himself has always had a clear attitude towards digital currencies, and has publicly stated many times: "I can say with certainty that cryptocurrencies will end in tragedy." ”
When he accepted this bitcoin, what Buffett said to Sun Yuchen, we don't know. But Sun Yuchen really made a name for himself by relying on this wave of marketing.
Now, 92-year-old Buffett has thrown the last olive branch, and this "last lunch" is bound to become a place where soldiers must fight.
Will there be another Chinese face on this table? What kind of wealth tips will Buffett give? A good show will be played out in two months.
Text, Editor /Cardi C
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