He invested lavishly in the Democrats when the Republicans controlled Congress. Founded in 1986 by Ron Burkle, the firm has completed mergers and acquisitions valued at more than $40 billion. When one item unfavorably contrasted him with a financier he detests, Burkles lawyers launched a letter demanding a retraction and an apology. Place of birth : Pomona (Californie) - United States. He says he derailed the vacation for similar concerns and that she had tried to get their son to lie to Burkle about her rehiring of a nanny. In 1986 he formed Yucaipa Cos., naming it after the California town where he was living at the time, and began buying and selling small grocery store chains. [38], In January 2012, Burkle invested in Artist Group International, a concert-booking firm whose clients include Billy Joel, Metallica, and Rod Stewart. "It doesn't do me any good for people to know about me or know what I'm doing because if you're low key, I think you can get a lot more done," Mr. Burkle, now 53, told an interviewer for Talk magazine several years ago. [23][24][25], The Penguins, under the ownership of Burkle, are the only North American sports team with ties to private equity that has won a championship. Bruck, Connie: "Cashier du Cinema After supermarkets, private equity and politics, Ron Burkle makes a move on Hollywood". Following the Africa trip, Burkle reportedly returned home via a commercial jet, referring to Epstein as "creepy".[116][117][118]. To some, it might seem odd that a major Democratic Party donor and longtime friend of Bill Clinton would want to buy such a lowbrow, conservative outlet. The Greenacres estate -- once owned by silent-film star Harold Lloyd -- had a dining room that sat 20. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. "People are always trying to project things onto you when you make a lot of money. How were we supposed to know in the mid-1990s that Willie Brown was going to be on the board of Calpers? he says. The daughters declaration was made in support of Janet Burkles 2003 application for a court restraining order, which was denied. Mr. Burkle, a kingmaker in California political circles and a confidant of a former governor, Gray Davis, has also been a loyal supporter of Mr. Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore, who both now have business relationships with him. and began looking for investors. He eventually sold the chains, including Alpha Beta, Ralphs and Food 4 Less, to Kroger for nearly $13 billion in 1999. One of Burkle's closest pals is former President Bill Clinton, who heads a group of high-flying politicians with whom he is close. Most recently, Burkle and his Yucaipa Cos. spearheaded a bid for the 12 Knight Ridder papers put up for sale by McClatchy Co. in March. [103], In December 2013, Burkle purchased an Olympic gold medal won by Jesse Owens at the 1936 Berlin Games for $1.4 million[104] and owns William Faulkner's Nobel Prize for Literature. The engaged couple eventually made their way down the aisle on October 22, 2016. With a remarkable career as a businessman and investor, Ronald has been able to amass a sizable amount of income. [75], In 2004, Burkle helped finance the launch of Al Gore's Current TV,[76] which was sold in January 2013 to Qatar-based cable news channel Al Jazeera. Ronald Burkle multiplied his fortune by merging, buying and selling supermarket chains, including Ralphs Grocery Co. and Food4Less. When confronted with this, Burkle wont concede the point. April 8, 2006. But the reporter was too smart to take the proffered gym bag full of greenbacks, and the ensuing scandal coverage (my own rival tabloid was only too happy run it on the front page for weeks) was as messy as it was inconclusive. -- quickly leaked to newspapers -- would quiet the baying hounds, he overestimated his clout, at least in the big leagues of scandal. Items about Mr. Burkle's social life and personal comings and goings began appearing on the page without any warning, or so much as a call for comment, the associate said -- and with little resemblance to the truth. Burkle says he realized the impact his next fund could have after talking to the veteran investor Kirk Kerkorian, who now rankles the executive ranks of 2006-05-02 04:00:00 PDT Los Angeles -- Billionaires often seem more or less alike, doing what all superrich people do, only more so. Ronald Burkle was born on 12 November 1952, in Pomona, California, to Betty and Joseph Burkle. 1 of 3-X Show More Show Less 2 of 3 FILE-- Supermarket magnate Ron Burkle, shown in this undated file photo, rose from box boy to the top of the grocery food chain and into the political and . A Los Angeles court late Friday unsealed documents revealing details of billionaire Ronald W. Burkles bitter divorce fight -- records that he went to extraordinary lengths over the last three years to keep private. She has a bachelors degree in the history of science from Harvard University. Result: This spring Yucaipa paid $100 million to buy a controlling stake in Allied Holdings, a trucking outfit in bankruptcy proceedings. Ron Burkle, who has long been obsessed with gaining control over the hidden levers of power and celebrity, is like a boy who can't resist playing with fire. [45], Wild Oats Markets was an operator of natural foods stores and farmers' markets in North America. Billionaires often have private jets at their beck and call. Clinton got it to the point where Hoffa actually helped us with that deal, something I couldnt have gotten on my own, Burkle says. That let Burkle pay low prices and avoid bidding wars. The one instance many cite when Burkle appears to have tried to throw his weight around -- though he has denied it -- is a bill in the state Legislature criticized by many legal and First Amendment rights groups that would make it easier to seal the records in divorce cases. Lot Size 9,018 square feet. The 2,700-acre Los Olivos, Calif., estate might be his most famous, but the billionaire . For Jared Paul Stern, who at the time was second banana at the Posts influential Page Six column, the ancillary business was fashion design. That moment has its own bit of mythmaking. He said Carrie was reluctant to believe the two were involved. [99][100], Burkle is a fan of historic architecture. Current TVnow has 40 million subscribers and a new user-generated content agreement with Fox and advising him on the campaign to end the Republican ban on federally funded stem-cell research. [89], Burkle is a trustee of The Scripps Research Institute, The Carter Center,[4][90] the National Urban League,[4][90] Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy[91] and AIDS Project Los Angeles. In a recent and rare interview for the Wall Street Journal, Ron Burkle finally talks about his latest purchase: The Neverland Ranch. Janet Burkle left Ron again in 2002, her $30 million settlement intact, and headed to court a year later to argue she had been swindledthat her settlement should have been $1 billion. As an investor, Yucaipa works with management to strategically . He would prefer that people see in him a classic American success story. [71][72] Burkle has hosted fundraisers for Bill and Hillary Clinton,[71][73] John Kerry,[6] Cory Booker,[7] and Terry McAuliffe,[74] as well as former Republican California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger,[1] among others. Bush traveled to Thailand after the tsunami that struck in late 2004, Burkle flew with them on Air Force Two. Location Malibu Colony, Malibu, Calif. Price $13.5 million. My best call in corporate America isnt one-hundredth of what President Clinton is just picking up the phone and saying Hey, weve got this is idea, want to come talk about it?. I never played Little League, we never had traditional family vacations. By this time Burkle had forged one of the most important connections of his career: In 1992 he met candidate Bill Clinton in Los Angeles, in the aftermath of the citys riots. It backfired. The famed comedian and his wife, Dolores, built the house in the . I wouldnt trade these past few years for anything, he says. Likewise, the former couple welcomed their third child, Andrew C. Burkle, in 1994. [5], Burkle's net worth was estimated at US$2 billion in February 12, 2018. The grocery magnates family life, the unsealed records show, was supremely up-market. He has also gained some notoriety because of the litigation in his messy divorce from his former wife, Janet. Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) expressed concern that such investments could be used by foreign governments as "instruments of foreign policy. Ron Burkle's La Jolla, Calif., mansion, which overlooks Black's Beach. Ron Burkle and Bill Clinton used to go together like peanut butter and jelly, bread and butter, unprotected sex and gonorrhea. After enduring what he has said was a string of inaccurate items, published over the last year, Burkle said he had had enough. Ron Burkle is an investor in real estate, technology and sports interests. The 720-strong chain is engaged in a fierce courtroom confrontation with Ron Burkle, a private equity tycoon whose Yucaipa investment vehicle has built a 19% stake in B&N and who is challenging a . He has been the target of two dreaded media figures: The infamous Hollywood sleaze-digger and private eye Anthony Pellicano, whom Burkle feared was investigating him; and a freelancer for the New York Post who (says Burkle) tried to extort $100,000 from him to keep Burkle out of the tabloids dreaded gossip column, Page Six. According to numerous stories, Janet Steeper's ex-husband charged her with having an illicit relationship with her partner, an ex-con. In reality, its roughly 2,700 acres, said Tim Gleason, Mr. Burkles on-staff design curator. He has also gathered a flock of powerful friends from Hollywood, Wall Street and Washington that numbers former President Bill Clinton in its ranks. His father worked as a grocer. Burkle also reportedly sought a pardon from Clinton in 2000 for a close friend, former junk bond king Michael Milken. [17], Burkle is often seen as a businessman who maintains close relationships with labor unions and works with unions to solve business problems. There is absolutely zero chance that Ron would invest with Follieri, directly or indirectly.[115], Ronald Burkle's name was found in Jeffrey Epsteins black book and on Epsteins private jet log. ". When a Post gossip writer, Jared Paul Stern, said he could help improve the former supermarket tycoon's coverage, Burkle set up a meeting and secretly videotaped Stern -- with federal law enforcement officials reportedly monitoring the process -- apparently trying to extort $220,000 in return for favorable publicity. The 1,200 pages of documents were made public two days after the California Supreme Court rejected Burkles effort to keep them under seal, which he said was necessary to protect the safety of his children. The 27-year-old son of billionaire tycoon Ron Burkle has been found dead in his Beverly Hills home. [112], On April 30, 2008, a Delaware judge dismissed Burkle's lawsuit against Raffaello Follieri, ex-boyfriend of actress Anne Hathaway, after Follieri agreed to repay $1.3 million Burkle loaned to him in the Vati-Con scandal. We are delighted that you'd like to resume your subscription. The man feted as AFL-CIO humanitarian of the year and the Los Angeles County Boy Scouts Jimmy Stewart person of the year, and who is the namesake of the Burkle Center for International Relations at UCLA -- to mention but a few of his honors -- is known on Gawker's salacious Web site and on Page Six as the "greasy grocer," "babe-loving billionaire," "paunchy merchant prince" and, perhaps most hurtful of all, "evil rich guy.". Burkle insists that he never lobbied for the new law. For a man who says he is just trying to protect his privacy, Burkle has just invited a torrent of even greater scrutiny. [37] Inevitable Ventures's investment include Picnic Health, 8i, Thrive Market, and Wiser Care. (Gore receives a portion of the profits and is believed to own a minority stake). Burkle was co-owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the team was invited to a celebration at the White House following their Stnaley Cup victory. Lots of unresolved anger. At 13 years old, he worked part-time in . I don't understand all this stuff you hear now. Golden State, one of McDonald's biggest suppliers, operates 11 distribution centers in the United States and abroad and two U.S. processing plants. The Burkle fund, however, will have the curious feature that unions and their pension plans will be among the investors in it. "Supermarket Billionaire Ron Burkle's Lavish Mediterranean Trophy Estate in La Jolla, California." He added, "It is also important in the newsrooms. Eventually the house of cards came crashing down. John Kasich, who is considering another run for president in 2020, recently met privately with billionaire investor and philanthropist Ron Burkle, who has a . He used the jet to fly himself, their young son, Andrew, and Clinton and his family to South Africa in 2003 for Nelson Mandelas birthday celebration, she said. , Charles Munger. [29] However, Burkle never confirmed the news publicly before exiting the Sacramento Republic's ownership group. At age 5 he was stacking bread and chasing shopping carts in the parking lot. When Petrolane decided to sell Stater, Burkle, then 28, worked in secret to line up a leveraged buyout; Munger agreed to have Berkshire put up half of the equity. Best coffee city in the world? Ronald Burkle entered in food sector when he was very young. He also writes the "No Regrets" column for the New York Times. Still Calpers has fared exceptionally well in Yucaipa funds. To see his dad, Ron Burkle had to go to the store or help fix up the houses his dad owned. He is not just quarreling with the New York Post's catty gossip bible, Page Six -- a favorite billionaire sport -- he is engaged in the Desert Storm of publicity wars with the newspaper, alleging that the paper has acted improperly. Critics of Burkle point out that the records in his divorce have been temporarily sealed at his request until the legal issues are resolved and appeals concluded. The self-made billionaires ex-wife accuses him of cheating her out of a fortune and having her and her (ex-con) boyfriend followed. When most people think of Michael Jacksons iconic ranch, which was known for the superstars private railroad, zoo and amusement park, they assume it covers only a few acres. [13], During the 1992 Los Angeles riots, Burkle refused to close his inner-city stores, a move for which he received praise. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. He had a highly publicized falling-out with Michael Ovitz, the former Hollywood power broker, several years ago, and came under the news media microscope in late 2000 for soliciting Mr. Clinton about a possible pardon for Michael Milken, the former junk-bond king and convicted felon. [1][11] Burkle made his bid to Petrolane's board that was 20% lower than Petrolane's internal valuation. Ronald Burkle, Andrew Burkle (R) and John Burkle (L). Stern got run out of town, but avoided criminal charges. Burkle prefers an inside track, and his good reputation among union officials helps him get it. A bitter battle ensued, and Burkle won every round. Burkle studied dentistry at the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, though he dropped out after less than two years. From one of the ranchs highest points, Mr. Gleason points at a huge piece of flat grassland dotted with large trees. [105][106], Burkle owns the Mediterranean-styled mansion overlooking the bluffs of Black's Beach on a nearly six-acre plot in the La Jolla Farms neighborhood of San Diego, California. 11723. Country of residence : United States. Burkle was raised in Claremont, a quiet town in suburban Los Angeles County. A piker in a game dominated by $10 billion funds, Burkle built his fortune buying where no one else cared to gojunky companies with tense union relations, tortured finances and tattered physical surroundings. In the next 17 years Burkle would do 16 deals, totaling almost $15 billion (11 involved grocery chains). We sustained losses, he says, but they were far less than at the other stores and chains.. "It is with the heaviest of hearts and . Pittsburgh Penguins co-owner Ron Burkle's abandoned attempt to bring the 30th MLS franchise to Sacramento has instead brought him legal troubles. Burkle has been the chairman of the board for Alliance Entertainment, Dominick's, Fred Meyer, Ralphs, and Food4Less. [79][80], Burkle's honors and awards include the Los Angeles County, California Boy Scouts Jimmy Stewart "Good Turn" Award,[81] the AIDS Project Los Angeles Commitment to Life Award,[82] and the Los Angeles Urban League Whitney M. Young Award. (Actually, his people went around saying that, too, but why be catty about it?) In 1981 he mounted a botched buyout attempt of the chain and was fired. "It is with deepest regret and sadness that we announce the death of Andrew C. Burkle on . A representative for the propertys new owner, the California billionaire Ron Burkle, gives a tour. But people know who he is now. "He remembers where he came from.". But he lost badly in trying to get his 5,000-page divorce record sealed to protect his familys privacyand his own image. News that the liberal, California . And billionaires certainly attract famous friends. Burkle donated $15 million toward the construction of downtown L.A.'s Walt Disney Concert Hall in 1997. "[2], Burkle is a prominent Democratic activist and fundraiser. [92] He is a past board member of the J. Paul Getty Trust,[93][94] the Los Angeles County Museum of Art,[95] the Los Angeles Music Center,[96] John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts,[97] and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. At age 21 Ron Burkle married an 18-year-old clerk he had met in the store: Janet Steeper, a great-grandniece of the Wright brothers, aviation pioneers. You will be notified in advance of any changes in rate or terms. After a restoration, billionaire supermarket mogul Ron Burkle is listing Bob Hope's longtime Los Angeles home for $29 million.. As of February 2023, Ron Burkle's net worth is estimated to be roughly $2 Billion. [1][10], Burkle was promoted to store manager at Stater Bros. and later became a vice president at Petrolane, Inc., Stater's parent company. Burkle operates his businesses through a series of private investment funds under his main vehicle, the Yucaipa Cos. The associate, who requested anonymity because of the criminal investigation, added that Mr. Burkle enjoyed his relative anonymity. You may cancel your subscription at anytime by calling These he offered to Burkle for sale in bulkperhaps as holiday gifts for his large staff, or so went one suggestion. The liberal California investor has long tangled with the tabloid press. "He's probably the best employer we ever dealt with," said Ricardo Icaza, president of the Los Angeles local of the United Food and Commercial Workers union, who negotiated a number of labor contracts with Burkle when the billionaire owned supermarket chains like Ralphs and Food 4 Less. "He said, 'I'll do anything I can to help, but I don't want any publicity,' " Griego recalled. He graduated at 16 without ever going back to class. "He travels all over the world, he has a lot of friends, but nobody cares about him," he said. Janet Burkle also claimed that her husbands security agents followed her and their son into Jerrys Deli when they went to lunch, and tailed her at a park. Customer Service. At the time, his public image was of a supremely eligible, billionaire bachelor. Early on Ron Burkle took a keen interest in the stock market, becoming a devotee of Warren Buffett and Buffetts sidekick at Many gossip columnists at Rupert Murdochs New York Post were known to take money from personalities they covered through various side-hustles. [1][11], By age 13, Burkle had joined United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 770. Burkle also has been slapped around by the bitchy media blog Gawker.com53 citings since March. Many observers were left with the impression that he really was the paunchy, devious, model-chasing older rich guy that the Post had always made him out to be. Pittsburgh Penguins co-owner Ron Burkle's abandoned attempt to bring the 30th MLS franchise to Sacramento has instead brought him legal troubles. (It was unusual to hear from a billionaire personally, and he shared this habit with only one other peer: Donald J. Stern was subsequently fired by the Post. Since that experience, I have had a heightened appreciation for the necessity of attempting to protect ones family from potential kidnappers and other criminals, Burkle said in a declaration. Says he: I want to make real returns, so I cant afford to be in the auction business.. But he has had poor investments, too. Also failed to win a professional football franchise to replace the Rams. Burkle, 68 years old, bought the property last year for $22 . But Burkles fascination with the hidden workings of celebrity didnt stop there. Ben Widdicombe reports for T&C on the nexus of privilege and power, and the badand occasionally goodbehavior of the very rich. Janet, in one of her filings, said the couple had six residences -- a Yucaipa ranch, a Laguna Beach estate, an oceanfront mansion in La Jolla, the historic Greenacres mansion in Beverly Hills, and two properties in Palm Springs. Yucaipa arranged for Clinton to make a speech at a Teamsters conference in 2003, and later Clinton urged Teamsters President James Hoffa Jr. to trust Burkle and present him with possible deals. 757. By 1997 Janet Burkle had moved back in with him at Greenacres and they had signed a settlement granting her $30 million if they ended up parting ways. Spyglass Media Group, the entertainment outfit set up in the wake of the downfall of The Weinstein Co., appears headed to trial to defend itself against Ron Burkle, whose investment firm is still . People went around saying I was trying to be a do-gooder, he says. Along the way, Mr. Burkle has made an art of keeping his financial, political and personal lives as private as possible. Billionaires generally have big houses. While acknowledging he is a successful investor and businessman, Burkle said his wifes portrayal of him could hurt his relationship with leaders of organized labor. At 3:30 p.m. that day the board called Burkle back in, rejected his offer as too lowand fired him. The Post responded with a letter asking Mr. Burkle to provide details on his complaints about the column. Billionaire Ron Burkle's son Andrew was remembered as a "giant among men" in an emotional tribute posted this week by his heartbroken brother. News that the liberal, California billionaire has emerged as a .css-gegin5{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#9a0500;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-gegin5:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}likely buyer for the National Enquirer is the latest startling twist in the long history of that tabloid, which was founded as a muck-raking New York weekly in 1926. Above all Burkle made some political connections. Even if he's not exactly a household name, most real estate aficionados know who Ron Burkle is. Often Burkles newly acquired stores were in black or Hispanic or Asian neighborhoods abandoned or underserved by other chains. I wake up every morning and only think about good things.. He had been ranked No. All my time with my dad revolved around work, he says. His security team, said one of Mr. Burkle's associates, includes a former Secret Service agent. Burkle bought his stake before getting a new union contract, and the union lived up to its promise. Getty Images. Mortenson and CAA Iconthat contend they're owed millions of dollars for work performed in anticipation of constructing a new stadium. He operates from a clutch of relatively nondescript offices on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles that once belonged to David Geffen, the DreamWorks co-founder.
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