Chinese Crypto Pioneer Pays $4.57 Million for Lunch With Warren Buffett – Bloomberg
What happened: Justin Sun, founder of cryptocurrency platform Tronix (more commonly known as TRON), has won a record $4.57 million bid in an eBay charity auction to have lunch with billionaire investor Warren Buffett. “I officially announce I’ve won the record-setting 20th-anniversary charity lunch hosted by @WarrenBuffett,” the 28-year-old Chinese entrepreneur announced in a post on Twitter. Sun said he hopes to educate and change Buffett’s mind on blockchain and cryptocurrency. Buffett previously compared Bitcoin to “rat poison” and said it “attracts charlatans.”
Why it’s important: Although cryptocurrency is still largely banned in China, TRON, launched two years ago, has become one of the ten largest cryptocurrencies in the world. Sun can invite as many as seven guests to the luncheon. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ), who has been asked to join the exclusive event, turned down the invitation. Sun, a self-proclaimed disciple of Jack Ma, is the fourth Chinese entrepreneur to win the auction to lunch with Buffett. Sun graduated from the founder of Alibaba’s high-profile Hupan University last year as the entrepreneur program’s first millennial graduate.