"Whatever is in my power" can mean lots of things. If you were short by $1M, you could probably convince someone to loan you that amount quite easily. The GP

"Whatever is in my power" can mean lots of things. If you were short by $1M, you could probably convince someone to loan you that amount quite easily. The GP already mentioned colluding - you could for eg, merge funds with another potential bidder (or donor) to "just cross the amount" in exchange for something (say a yearly showing of the constitution at a museum of their choice) Knowing your opponents maximum amount makes your riskier bets (loaning money, striking deals) much less risky - atleast in a two-way auction(?)