Lunch date with Twitter and Square founder Jack Dorsey raises $31,600 for educational charity BUILD

How much would you pay for lunch with Jack Dorsey, one of the most successful tech entrepreneurs in recent history? One anonymous person is forking out $31,600 for a date with the Twitter and Square founder, after scooping a charity auction. It ended on Friday after 24 bids. The money will go to benefit the BUILD organization, a group that helps foster education in the entrepreneur space for low-income students.

Ten days ago, BUILD began the auction with its culmination taking place prior to the group’s annual Gala in San Francisco. Dorsey has been a supporter of BUILD for the past several years, hosting mentoring sessions with students, auctioning off Square internships at its event, and helping to bring in $60,000 for the cause.

Dorsey says that “BUILD represents one of the best ways to tackle educational challenges — through entrepreneurship and pride in ownership. BUILD’s method gives kids the toolkits they need to build the futures they want — and it is inspiring to see what they create.”

The 💜 of EU tech

The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!

The winning bidder is only identified by eBay as o**d, although looking at the individual’s bidding history, they placed five bids in the auction. According to a BUILD spokesperson, the bidder is a venture capitalist from Belgium, but not much else was revealed. They now have a unique opportunity for them and seven of their friends to have lunch with Dorsey.

Additionally, at the annual BUILD Gala on Friday night, another anonymous bidder placed a $40,000 bid to have lunch with Dorsey — in total, for two auctions, the serial entrepreneur has helped raise more than $70,000 for BUILD. That amount helped play a big part in the charity’s record $1.4 million that it brought in from that single event.

All proceeds of the auction are going to benefit those students who have a desire to become an entrepreneur, but need additional support. The group believes that student ideas in action will help drive students to success not only in school, but in their later years. It’s a four-year high school program helping students in four schools in the US: Redwood City and Oakland in California, Washington, DC, and Boston, Massachusetts.

The conclusion of Dorsey’s auction follows another high-profile charity one. Earlier this week, a winning bid of $610,000 was made to have coffee with Apple CEO Tim Cook. In this case, the money given will go towards funding the RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights. There were 86 bids in that auction.

Photo credit: Brian Harkin/Getty Images