Buffett to woo money from Silicon Valley at auction
The billionaire investor famously sour about the prospects of Internet stocks has no qualms about collecting Silicon Valley wealth for charity.
Buffett will be in Atherton, Calif., on Friday to address a charity auction sponsored by his executive jet company, NetJets.
Held at the home of Angel Investors founder Ron Conway, the event will auction items donated not from Net millionaires, but from sports and entertainment celebrities.
These include a game of golf with Masters champion Tiger Woods, a Hummer from actor and former bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger, and a basketball belonging to Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal.
Beneficiaries of the auction include a mix of high- and low-technology organizations, including the Tiger Woods Fund, the Inner City Games, the Boys and Girls Club, the Packard ALS Fund, the Ronald McDonald House, Silicon Valley Community Ventures, Red Herring Community Fund, My Mother's House and the Mercy Home for Children.
The event comes as Net millionaires and billionaires increasingly are giving away some of their vast fortunes. Recent examples include the record-setting largesse of Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and the advent of companies that build charity into their business models.