Warren Buffett lunch sells for £1 million on eBay

By Yinka Adegoke and Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A bidder agreed to pay $1.68 million (1 million pound) for a steak lunch with billionaire investor Warren Buffett in a charity auction completed Friday night, according to eBay's website, where the bidding took place.

The winning bid in the 10th annual fund-raiser fell short of last year's record $2.11 million, paid by Hong Kong-based investor Zhao Danyang. The starting price was $25,000.

The identity of the winning bidder could not immediately be determined. EBay was not immediately available for comment. A call to Buffett was not immediately returned.

As in recent years, the winner and up to seven friends may dine with the world's second-richest person at the Smith & Wollensky steakhouse in New York.

Zhao, who runs the Pureheart China Growth Investment Fund, had his lunch with Buffett on Wednesday.

The auction benefits the Glide Foundation, a nonprofit in San Francisco's Tenderloin district that offers housing, job training, health and child care, and meals for the poor.

Bidding activity accelerated towards the end of the auction, much as in past years, with the top bid rising from $810,000 over the last 2 hours.

Observers had speculated that the global recession would keep the winning bid below last year's record.