Ronald Burkle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ronald Wayne Burkle (born 12 November 1952 in Pomona, California) is an American entrepreneur. His present net worth is estimated at $3.5 billion.[1]

Burkle got his start in the supermarket business as a bag boy at his father's grocery store. He later dropped out of college, and founded Yucaipa Companies, a private equity firm, [2] which invests in retail, manufacturing, and distribution.

Burkle has served as Chairman of the Board and controlling shareholder of numerous companies including Alliance Entertainment [3] Golden State Foods, Dominick's, Fred Meyer, Ralphs, and Food4Less. He is currently a member of the board of Occidental Petroleum Corporation [4] KB Home[5] and Yahoo![6] He is also part owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins[7] National Hockey League team, although his exact share is unknown.

Burkle is a well-known Democratic supporter and fundraiser who has raised more than $1,000,000 for the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. Bill Clinton is employed by The Yucaipa Companies to help identify possible investment opportunities. [8] He has supported California State Treasurer Phil Angelides and employed former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, both of whom are former CALPERS board members, but has also made contributions to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.[9] Robert Novak reported in June, 2007 that 98% of Burkle's $1.5 million political contributions to date have gone to Democrats. [10] Burkle helped finance Al Gore's cable Current TV network.[11]

Contents

[edit] Pittsburgh Penguins

Burkle became a co-owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins when he invested $20 million to help a group headed by Mario Lemieux save the team from bankruptcy in 1999. [12] [13]

[edit] Wild Oats

Wild Oats Markets was an operator of natural foods stores and farmers markets in North America. Burkle started buying Wild Oats stock in February 2005. By the time Whole Foods Market, a natural-foods grocer, agreed to pay $565 million for Wild Oats, Burkle was Wild Oats's largest shareholder. [14]

[edit] Golden State Foods

Burkle sold his majority stake in supplier Golden State Foods to St. Louis-based Wetterau Associates for about $110 million. Golden State, one of McDonald's biggest suppliers, operates 11 distribution centers in the United States and abroad and two U.S. processing plants. [15]

[edit] Follieri

On 30 April 2008, a Delaware judge dismissed Burkle's lawsuit against Raffaello Follieri, boyfriend of actress Anne Hathaway, after he agreed to repay Burkle than $1.3 million Burkle loaned him. [16]

[edit] Investments & transactions

Burkle's investments and transactions include:

[edit] Payola Scandal

In April 2006, Burkle accused New York Post columnist Jared Paul Stern of attempting to extort money from him in exchange for stopping the publication of stories in Page Six, the paper's gossip column, about his private life. [17] Burkle secretly videotaped two private meetings between himself and Stern, with the second meeting orchestrated and monitored by the FBI. Stern allegedly asked Burkle for a $220,000 investment in his clothing business in exchange for better coverage. Stern was subsequently fired by the Post. [18]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Forbes Billionaire Bachelors", forbes.com, 2008-04-08. Retrieved on 2007-10-01. 
  2. ^ The Complete Ron Burkle. The New York Observer (2006-04-12). Retrieved on 2007-10-01.
  3. ^ #112 Ronald Burkle. Forbes 400. Retrieved on 2007-10-01.
  4. ^ board of directors. Occidental Petroleum Corporation. Retrieved on 2007-10-01.
  5. ^ Ronald W Burkle. Forbes. Retrieved on 2007-10-01.
  6. ^ Board of Directors. Yahoo!. Retrieved on 2007-10-01.
  7. ^ Solomon, Deborah. "Questions for Ron Burkle: Friend of Bill and Hill", New York Times, 2007-03-18. Retrieved on 2007-10-01. 
  8. ^ The Rise Of Ron Burkle - Forbes.com
  9. ^ Murdoch Donates $250K to Schwarzenegger
  10. ^ #117 Ronald Burkle - Forbes.com
  11. ^ Newspapers may have an angel / Billionaire Burkle emerges as possible buyer, union says
  12. ^ "Burkle running Pens' power play", 2008-03-02. 
  13. ^ "A crowning night for Penguins", 2008-04-03. 
  14. ^ "Ronald Burkle Harvests His Wild Oats", 2007-02-22. 
  15. ^ "Burkle sells 51% stake in Golden State Foods", 2004-02-16. 
  16. ^ "Side Dish", 2008-04-30. 
  17. ^ "HOW HE MADE HIS MOVE. Shaking down a billionaire", 2006-04-09. 
  18. ^ "Joe Tacopina To Testify About Bernie Kerik's Liesh". 

[edit] See also

[edit] External links


Persondata
NAME Burkle, Ronald Wayne
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION supermarket billionaire
DATE OF BIRTH 12 November 1952
PLACE OF BIRTH Pomona, California
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH