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Ronald W. Burkle (b. November 12, 1952 in Pomona, California) is often written about as a "Party-Boy Billionaire"^[1] with roots in the supermarket industry and personal wealth exceeding US$3.5 billion. He founded The Yucaipa Companies, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm, in 1986. He was once a bag boy^[2] and is now recognized as one of the preeminent investors in the retail, manufacturing, and distribution industries. The Yucaipa group recently worked with The Newspaper Guild and the Communications Workers of America to explore alternatives to Rupert Murdoch's buyout of Dow Jones & Company by his News Corporation.^[3]

Burkle has served as Chairman of the Board and controlling shareholder of numerous companies including Alliance Entertainment,^[4] Golden State Foods, Dominick's, Fred Meyer, Ralphs, and Food4Less. He is currently a member of the board of Occidental Petroleum Corporation,^[5] KB Home^[6] and Yahoo!^[7] He is also part owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins^[8] 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.[1] 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.[2] Robert Novak reported in June, 2007 that 98% of Burkle's $1.5 million political contributions to date have gone to Democrats. Burkle is a close friend of former President Bill Clinton, who calls Burkle's Boeing 757 private jet "Ron Air."[3] Clinton is employed by Burkle's investment firm, The Yucaipa Companies. Burkle co-hosted a fundraiser for Hillary Rodham Clinton at his Green Acres Mansion. Burkle and Steve Rattner helped finance Al Gore's cable Current TV network. [4]

As of May 2007, real estate developer Raffaello Follieri, the boyfriend of actress Anne Hathaway, was being sued by billionaire Ron Burkle for $55 million, an amount which Burkle alleges Follieri and Hathaway spent on a private jet, care for their pet Labrador, and shopping sprees. The money had been intended for a land development project.

Burkle is also a close friend of superstar Michael Jackson[5].

Burkle's investments and transactions include:

• Sold Dominick's chain to Safeway in 1998 for over $200 million in profits
• Owns 20.7% stake in Americold Realty Trust
• Leveraged buyouts of Jurgensen's, Fred Meyer, Food 4 Less, and Ralphs supermarket chains (purchased through Yucaipa) and sold to Kroger for $13.5 billion
• Scour
• Sold majority stake in McDonald's supplier Golden State Foods to Wetterau Associates of St. Louis, Missouri for $110 million
• Signed Fleming as sole food supplier to Kmart
• Majority stake in Pathmark grocery stores
• Cyrk - former Beanie Baby promotion agency
• Merged Alliance Entertainment with publicly traded Source Interlink
• Invested $100 million in Sean Combs's (P. Diddy) Sean John clothing line
• Purchased the "Enthusiast Media" publications and assets of Primedia (via Source Interlink) for $1.2 billion.
• Bought Pittsburgh Penguins along with Mario Lemieux.

In April 2006, Ron Burkle accused New York Post columnist Jared Paul Stern of attempting to extort money from him in exchange for more favorable Page Six coverage. Page Six, a popular and influential gossip column in the New York Post, appears to have increased their coverage of Burkle's private life over the past year. Ron Burkle secretly videotaped several private meetings between him and Jared Paul Stern, and has since presented the tapes to the FBI. During the meetings, Stern allegedly asked Burkle for a $220,000 investment in his clothing business in exchange for better Page Six coverage. No charges were ever filed against Stern, however, and Stern announced plans to sue Burkle for defamation. Stern filed suit against Burkle, Frank Renzi a retired United States Secret Service agent and Burkle’s chief of security, Richard Di Sabatino, a private investigator with extensive ties to jailed private investigator Anthony Pellicano, and several others. on March 22, 2007, on several counts including defamation and civil conspiracy.

1. ^ Ron Burkle and the Stern Sting. LA Weekly News (2006-01-11). Retrieved on 2007-12-20.
2. ^ The Complete Ron Burkle. The New York Observer (2006-04-12). Retrieved on 2007-10-01.
3. ^ "Dow Jones union asks tycoons to explore alternatives to News Corp bid", AFX News, 2007-06-05. Retrieved on 2007-10-01. 
4. ^ #112 Ronald Burkle. Forbes 400. Retrieved on 2007-10-01.
5. ^ board of directors. Occidental Petroleum Corporation. Retrieved on 2007-10-01.
6. ^ Ronald W Burkle. Forbes. Retrieved on 2007-10-01.
7. ^ Board of Directors. Yahoo!. Retrieved on 2007-10-01.
8. ^ Solomon, Deborah. "Questions for Ron Burkle: Friend of Bill and Hill", New York Times, 2007-03-18. Retrieved on 2007-10-01. 

• List of billionaires

• The Ronald W. Burkle Center for International Relations at UCLA
• Ron Burkle's federal campaign contributions at newsmeat.com
• Forbes - The 400 Richest Americans
• The Complete Ron Burkle Jason Horowitz, The New York Observer April 12, 2007
• Gore reinvents television with the debut of Current Jennifer Harper, The Washington Times, August 2, 2005
• Yellow Peril Ron Burkle, Wall Street Journal, April 19, 2006, about the Payola Six Scandal
• Billionaire and Post Writer in Dance of Tips and Turns New York Times, April 12, 2006
• Ex-Post Keyholer Says He’s Cleared on Extortion Rap Choire Sicha, The New York Observer, January 29, 2007
• Burkle's Source Agrees to Buy Primedia Magazine Group