A Chinese online gaming company on the weekend won a lunch with famous investor Warren Buffett for $2.35 million in an online charity auction.
Dalian Zeus Entertainment Co submitted the highest of 76 bids during this year's five-day charity auction on eBay, concluding on Friday (U.S. time), according to GLIDE Foundation, the beneficiary of the annual bidding event.
GLIDE said in a press release on its website that the winner can invite up to seven friends to join the lunch with Buffet at Smith & Wollensky in New York.
Neither GLIDE nor Dalian Zeus could be reached for comment by press time outside working hours.
The bid offered by Dalian Zeus was below the historical record of a $3.46 million bid by an anonymous winner in 2012, but higher than 2014's $2.17 million winning bid.
"Buffett is a very experienced investor, but I doubt that the 84-year-old billionaire can provide much feasible advice for the Chinese Internet company, as China's booming Internet industry is significantly different from Western countries," Zhang Yi, CEO of Guangzhou-based market research company iiMedia Research, told the Global Times Sunday.
Previous Chinese bid winners were reportedly divided over whether they benefitted a lot from a lunch with Buffett in terms of their future investments.
After a lunch with Buffett in 2008 for $2.11 million, Zhao Danyang, the founder of Pure Heart Asset Management Co, was quoted by media reports as saying that he thought the lunch was "really worth it," as Buffett has experienced lots of economic cycles that China has not undergone yet, therefore he could give some foresights.
In contrast, Duan Yongping, founder of Guangdong-based BBK Electronics Group, said there was no fundamental change with respect to his investments following his lunch with Buffett in 2006 for $620,100, according to media reports.
Rather than investment advice, Zhang said that Dalian Zeus is more likely hoping to gain some publicity in China's fiercely competitive Internet sector through the luxury lunch with Buffett.
Dalian Zeus, formerly named Dalian Kemian Wood Industry Co, has been actively shifting its core business from the wood industry to the development and distribution of online games since 2014.
Dalian Zeus acquired five domestic online gaming and marketing companies in the first half of 2014 alone, according to filings posted by the company on the Shenzhen bourse.
The trading of the Chinese company's shares has been halted since May 28, pending the disclosure of significant matters.
