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The cost of the average restaurant meal has risen 2.7 per cent in the past year, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, but if that looks steep against an economywide inflation rate of 1.1 per cent, it is nothing compared to the rising cost of lunching with Warren Buffett.
根据美国劳工统计局(Bureau of Labor Statistics)的数据，餐馆就餐成本在过去一年上涨了2.7%，这与整体经济1.1%的通胀率相比也许显得陡峭，但是相比同沃伦•巴菲特(Warren Buffett)共进午餐的扶摇直上的开销，这点涨幅实在算不了什么。
An anonymous bidder has paid $3,456,789 for a lunch date with the investment guru and founder of Berkshire Hathaway, some 47 per cent more than the winner of the charity auction last year.
一位匿名投标者支付了3456789美元与这位投资大师、伯克希尔哈撒韦公司(Berkshire Hathaway)创始人相约共进午餐，比这场慈善拍卖去年中标者的出价高出大约47%。
Mr Buffett will meet the winning bidder and up to seven friends for an intimate meal, in what has become an annual tradition that has netted more than $23m in total for the San Francisco charity, Glide.
巴菲特将与中标者和最多七个朋友一起进餐，这一年度传统已经为旧金山慈善机构Glide累计筹集2300多万美元。
Mr Buffett’s late wife Susan used to be a volunteer at Glide, which offers meals, medical testing and other services to homeless and low-income people in the San Francisco’s Tenderloin district. Volunteers and supporters sang and cheered as the five-day auction moved into its final minutes on Friday night, and a late bid swelled the proceeds from $2.8m, where bidding had hovered for most of the day, to a final total that matched the all-time record from 2012.
巴菲特已故太太苏珊曾经在Glide当义工，该组织为旧金山田德隆区(Tenderloin district)的无家可归者和低收入者提供膳食、医疗检验等服务。周五晚，在持续五天的拍卖进入最后几分钟之际，义工和支持者们欢呼并唱起歌来。当日大部分时间里，出价一直徘徊在280万美元上下，但拍卖结束前的出价远远超出这个水平，最终中标价格平了2012年创下的最高纪录。
Reverend Cecil Williams, co-founder of Glide, said he was astonished by the result. “This is a banner year,” he said, “and this is truly a power lunch for the people.”
Glide共同创始人、牧师塞西尔•威廉斯(Cecil Williams)表示，这个结果让他惊讶。“这是成果丰硕的一年，”他说，“这是真正为人民的‘巨头午餐会’。”
The auction is now in its 17th year, and the price of lunch with Mr Buffett began rising dramatically after it switched to the online site eBay in 2003, opening it to the investor’s followers all around the world.
这个拍卖活动已进入第17个年头，自拍卖活动在2003年转至eBay进行、让巴菲特在世界各地的粉丝都能投标以来，与这位知名投资者共进午餐的价格开始急剧上涨。
Since that first online auction, the price of the average restaurant meal has risen 44 per cent, while Mr Buffett’s 2016 lunch is 1,282 per cent higher. Berkshire’s share price is up 200 per cent over the same 13-year period.
自第一次网上拍卖以来，餐馆就餐的价格上涨44%，而巴菲特的2016年午餐价格高了1282%。伯克希尔的股价在这13年期间上升200%。
In some cases the experience of meeting Mr Buffett can be career-changing for lunch guests. Guy Spier wrote a book about how the advice and inspiration he received improved his approach to investing, for example.
在某些情况下，与巴菲特会晤的经历可能改变午餐客人的职业道路。例如，盖伊•施皮尔(Guy Spier)写了一本书，介绍他得到的建议和灵感如何改进了他的投资方法。
And Ted Weschler, a Virginia hedge fund manager who won with bid of $2.6m in both 2010 and 2011, so impressed Mr Buffett that he offered him a job. Today, Mr Weschler runs a $9bn slice of Berkshire’s $128bn equity portfolio.
弗吉尼亚州对冲基金经理泰德•韦施勒(Ted Weschler)曾以260万美元的出价在2010和2011年两度中标。巴菲特对他的印象很深，以至于向他提供了一个职位。如今，韦施勒负责管理伯克希尔公司1280亿美元股票投资组合中的90亿美元。
Mr Buffett will meet the winning bidder and guests at the famed Smith & Wollensky steakhouse in New York City on a mutually agreed upon date.
巴菲特将和中标者及其客人在纽约知名牛排餐厅“史密斯与沃伦斯基”(Smith & Wollensky)一起进餐，具体日期有待双方约定。
