By Sonali Basak(Bloomberg) — Warren Buffett’s 2006 Cadillac DTS, with his autograph on the dash and his offer to personally hand over the keys, attracted a high bid of $122,500 in an online auction for a charity that educates and advocates for girls.
The winning bidder wasn’t immediately identified, said Dana Kaufman, a spokeswoman for Proxibid, the website that hosted the auction. Proceeds will go to Girls Inc., where his daughter Susie is a member of the board.
Buffett, the world’s second-richest man, has pledged to give his wealth to charity. The 84-year-old chairman and chief executive officer of Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has already donated stock valued at billions of dollars to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and is a supporter of other causes.
The Omaha chapter of Girls Inc. was co-founded by Buffett’s late wife, Susan. It will use proceeds from the auction to build a facility that will include a health clinic, media room and teen center. The project is scheduled to be completed next year.
Buffett has had the shale-colored Cadillac sedan since it was new, recently replacing it with a current model. He’s offered to hand over the keys if the auction winner travels to Omaha.
Bidding began at $10,000 on Feb. 11 and closed Thursday after 8 p.m. New York time. Bids continued to come in after the stated closing time, extending the auction for several minutes.
The Cadillac with about 20,000 miles (32,000 kilometers) on the odometer would be worth $12,000 were it not owned by a world-famous billionaire, Proxibid said.
The price in the latest event compares with the $73,000 raised by the group in a 2006 auction for Buffett’s Lincoln Town Car with a personalized “Thrifty” license plate. – BLOOMBERG
