Charity meal auctions with Warren Buffett and other famed U.S. investors are well known. Singapore is now joining the trend with a recent auction for a dinner with one of its most prominent bankers, highlighting the city-state’s growing appetite for luxury experiences.
The winning bidder paid S$18,900 ($14,790) for the chance to dine with Tan Su Shan, chief executive officer of DBS Group Holdings Ltd., in an auction conducted by Sotheby’s last week. The event, part of National Gallery Singapore’s 2025 auction, is a rare instance of a fundraising in Asia featuring a leading corporate executive.
The winning bid—more than double the pre-sale estimate of S$6,000 to S$8,000—underscores how experiences are increasingly prized alongside traditional art and collectibles in Singapore’s luxury market. The nation is a key financial hub in Asia, where wealth management is an important engine of growth.
The gallery’s 2025 auction raised a record of more than S$2.8 million to support initiatives including new exhibitions and research, according to a spokesperson. “We continually seek to offer our donors rare and exceptional experiences that inspire generous giving,” the spokesperson added.
DBS has been a founding partner of the gallery since 2014, and Tan’s participation in the charity auction is an extension of its “longstanding support,” a spokesperson from the bank said in response to a query from Bloomberg News. A spokesperson from Sotheby’s confirmed the final price but declined to provide any other details, such as the identity of the winning bidder.
