Over the weekend it was reported that this year’s charity auction for the opportunity to have lunch with investor Warren Buffett fetched a record $3,456,789. This was a 31% increase in the cost for the lunch compared to the record winning bid from 2011 of $2.63 million.

In February of 2010, I had the opportunity to accompany a group of approximately 30 Tippie School of Management MBA students on a trip to Omaha to meet with Warren Buffett. After a two-hour question and answer session, Mr. Buffett treated the students (along with those from five other universities in attendance) to lunch at Piccolo Pete’s in downtown Omaha. Our group was one of the last to arrive at the restaurant, which turned out to be a great advantage. Shortly after we selected one of the few remaining tables in the banquet hall, Mr. Buffett entered the room and asked if he could sit with our group. He selected a seat directly across from me, next to then-Tippie student Michael Avery. I ended up with the best seat in the house, which allowed me the opportunity to ask a few direct questions and hear his personal investment advice. Even better was that we paid about $3.46 million less for the opportunity.

Michael Avery (MBA '11) and I paid less than $3.46 million, but still ended up with the best seats at lunch.