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eBay top bidder wins lunch with Murdoch

For $57,100, an anonymous bidder known only as wabanhood won the chance yesterday evening to dine with Rupert Murdoch at his News Corp headquarters. The auction, which took place on eBay, did not see a lot of activity until the last several hours. The winning bid was much lower than the lunch date Warren Buffett auctioned off last July with $351,100.

The proceeds from Murdoch`s auction will go to his chosen charity, the Jerusalem College of Technology. The charity auction ended as the latest profit results for News Corp were released. The group`s TV arm was the only one of its seven other businesses, including 20th Century Fox film studio, which saw a strong performance, not to improve.

The company reported a 19% improvement in operating profit for its fiscal first quarter. Unfortunately that result was wiped by a $1 billion accounting charge against the value of News Corp`s American television stations, putting the firm at a net loss of $433 million.