For the fourth year in a row, Apple CEO Tim Cook is participating in a charity auction through CharityBuzz, offering whoever bids the most the chance to eat lunch with him at Apple's headquarters in Cupertino. As with last year's auction, Cook is also offering tickets to an unspecified Apple keynote event.
Two people will be able to attend the lunch meeting with Cook, with the experience set to last for approximately one hour. Lunch is included in the price of the auction, but travel and accommodations are not. The offer expires on May 5, 2017, and will be scheduled at a "mutually agreed upon date."
With the expiration date set to happen in May of 2017 and the second Apple campus set to be finished in late 2016, there's a chance the auction winner could be invited to the second Apple Campus, though the auction makes no mention of this.
The auction, which will last until May 5, has an estimated value of $100,000, but bids have already reached $110,000. All proceeds from the auction will be donated to the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human rights, a charity that aims to achieve a "just and peaceful world by partnering with human rights leaders, teaching social justice and advancing corporate responsibility." Tim Cook has supported the RFK Center for several years running and was recently elected to the board of directors.
In 2015, Cook's charity lunch raised $200,000, while the 2014 auction brought in $330,001 and the 2013 auction brought in $610,000.
Top Rated Comments
2014: $330001
2015: $200000
2016: $120000?
2017: $70000
2018: $35000
2019: $20000
2020: $10000
2021: $7000
2022: $5000
2023: $3000
2024: $1000
2025: $600
2026: $500 - I'm in!
2027: $300
2028: $200
2029: $100
2030: Free lunch!
2031: Tim will start to pay you to have lunch with him!
Hey that's great. Lunch with a powerful CEO that only the mega Rich can afford. Awesome. Good plan.
It's for charity. There's really no need for snarkiness.If I had tons of money, I'd totally be interested. The money will be going to a good cause, and it'd be an interesting lunch!
"So I love your products and all, but why is there still 16GB base models for premium products at premium pricing in 2016?"
Why the rapidly declining yield?
Nothing really groundbreaking has come out of Apple since 2010. People see that, realize that that was about when Tim took over full time, and conclude that Apple's success since 2010 was nothing but momentum.