At the international charity auction for Tuscan truffles, which took place at the Hotel Grand Lisboa, Macau, the successful bidder for the largest truffle was Dr. Stanley Ho, who paid US$330,000 for the 1.5 kilo tuber.
All the proceeds from the three auctions are going to Charity foundations. In Italy, the money will be given to Telethon. In Macau the donations will go to five charities: the Caritas de Macau, Obra das Maes, Associacao Beneficencia Tung Sin Tong and Associacao de Beneficencia do Hospital Kiang Wu and the Macau Special Olympics Team; in London the proceeds will go to The Consortium for Street Children.
The auction in Macau raised a total of US$429,000 for good causes and the five charity organizations each received US$85,800 in donations.
There were three auctions of smaller Tuscan truffles that took place simultaneously around the world: in the Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence, Italy; in the Restaurant of Giorgio Locatelli in London and at Hotel Grand Lisboa, Macau, China. It was in the Hotel Grand Lisboa that the Truffle of the Century came up for auction. Guests at the gala dinner and auction included VIPs from Hong Kong and Macau, members of the Consular Corps, representatives of the charities chosen to receive the donations, and international press.
These three major events were linked via live television satellite, allowing attendees to bid internationally at any one of the three venues. There were a total of 14 lots of white truffles for sale in the three auctions and Macau successfully bid 11 lots.
