Deep-pocketed bidders battled Tuesday to win a coveted meeting with former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, one of a constellation of stars on offer in a charity auction.
The website www.charitybuzz.com launched its latest auction to raise money for the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial, a non-profit group that provides funding to human-rights causes.
Face-time with CNN talk-show host Larry King, comedian Robin Williams, movie legend Richard Gere and skateboard star Tony Hawk were also on offer to the highest bidder.
A lunch with glamorous former CIA spy Valerie Plame and her husband Joseph Wilson was another attraction for those curious about two people center-stage of a scandal involving American government and Iraq war.
Breakfast or tea with Greenspan and his wife, NBC correspondent Andrea Mitchell, carried an estimated value of 5,000 dollars.
But that would be small change to any Wall Street type keen to get an insight into the thinking of a man who, despite retiring from the US central bank a year ago, still has the power to move markets.
A warning from Greenspan that the United States could be struggling to stave off a recession later this year contributed to a rout on global stock markets in late February.
Bidding on the charity auction ends on April 6.
