People who'd like to chat with the Oracle of Omaha over steaks, burgers and ice cream sometime next year can bid to have lunch with Warren Buffett, the chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Mr. Buffett holds an auction every year in which anyone can bid to have a power lunch with him.

The proceeds of the donations go to the Glide Foundation, which provides a variety of social services to San Francisco's poor and homeless.

The winner of last year's bidding, Chinese investment manager Zhao Danyang, chowed down last week with Mr. Buffett at Smith & Wollensky in Manhattan. Mr. Danyang of Hong Kong-based Pure Heart Asset Management Co. Ltd. won that New York lunch with a record winning bid of $2.1 million.

The auction for next year's lunch ran last week on online auction site eBay Inc. As of press time, the bid had topped $800,000.

The winner will be able to take up to seven friends to dine with Mr. Buffett at the same Big Apple restaurant.

The winner also must pick up the tab and leave a tip, but stock tips are optional.