Ronald Burkle


Ronald Wayne Burkle is an American billionaire businessman. He is co-founder and managing partner of The Yucaipa Companies, LLC, a private investment firm that specializes in underperforming U.S. companies in the distribution, logistics, food, retail, consumer and light industrial sectors.
Yucaipa has executed grocery-chain mergers and acquisitions involving supermarket chains including Fred Meyer, Ralphs, and Jurgensen's, and once owned stakes in about 35 companies, including the grocery chains A&P and Whole Foods Market, before their respective demise and takeover.
Burkle's net worth is estimated at US$ 2 billion as of February 12, 2018. He had been ranked #633 on Forbes' list of "The Richest People on The Planet 2014."
Burkle is a prominent Democratic activist and fundraiser.

Early life and education

Ron Burkle was born on November 12, 1952, the elder of two sons, to Betty and Joseph Burkle in Pomona, California. Joseph worked seven days a week, managing a Stater Bros. grocery store in Pomona and investing his savings in apartment buildings. To see his father, Burkle stocked shelves in his father's store with bread and corralled shopping carts.
By age 13, Burkle had joined Box Boy Local 770. At age 16, he graduated from high school and entered California State Polytechnic University, Pomona to study dentistry. Less than two years later, Burkle dropped out.
At age 21, he married Janet Steeper, a Stater Bros. clerk and great-grandniece of the aviation pioneers, the Wright brothers. They would have three children together. Burkle parlayed a $3,000 investment in American Silver and another metals company into $30,000 and began investing in and flipping undervalued grocery stores. He made at least one deal with the assistance of junk bond financier Michael Milken.
Burkle was promoted to store manager at Stater Bros. and later became a vice president at Petrolane, Inc., Stater's parent company. When he was 29, Petrolane decided to sell Stater Bros. Burkle secretly organized a leveraged buyout with Charles Munger, vice-chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, who agreed to put up half of the equity. Burkle made his bid to Petrolane's board that was 20% lower than Petrolane's internal valuation. The board rejected Burkle's offer and fired him. Burkle's portfolio was by then worth some $5 million, and during the next five years, he continued to invest in stocks and oversaw his family's rental properties.

Career

In 1986, Burkle founded Yucaipa Companies, a private equity firm which invests in retail, manufacturing, and distribution.
During the 1992 Los Angeles riots, Burkle refused to close his inner-city stores, a move for which he received praise.
He has served as chairman of the board and controlling shareholder of numerous companies, including Alliance Entertainment, Golden State Foods, Dominick's, Fred Meyer, Ralphs, and Food4Less. He is currently a member of the board of Occidental Petroleum Corporation, KB Home, and Yahoo!
Burkle is often seen as a businessman who maintains close relationships with labor unions and works with unions to solve business problems.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Burkle is part owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins National Hockey League team, although his current share is unknown. In 1999, he helped save the team by partnering with Mario Lemieux to bring the team out of bankruptcy.
Burkle played an active part in negotiations to construct the PPG Paints Arena for the Penguins.
Burkle's strong ties to unions also led him to be one of the owners helping Commissioner Gary Bettman negotiate an end to the 2012–13 NHL lockout.
The Penguins, under the ownership of Burkle, are the only North American sports team with ties to private equity that has won a championship.

Technology investments

He has invested in technology startup companies through A-Grade Investments, a venture capital fund founded by Ashton Kutcher, Guy Oseary and Ron Burkle. A-Grade's investments include SeatGeek, SoundCloud, Uber, Warby Parker, Spotify, Foursquare, and Airbnb.
He has also invested in technology startup companies through Inevitable Venture, a venture capital fund founded by D.A Wallach, and Chris Hollod. Inevitable Ventures's investment include Picnic Health, 8i, Thrive Market, and Wiser Care.

Media investments

In January 2012, Burkle invested in Artist Group International, a concert-booking firm whose clients include Billy Joel, Metallica, and Rod Stewart. In March 2013, Burkle invested in a branded entertainment company, Three Lions Entertainment, which focuses on branded entertainment events and cross platform marketing. In 2014, he bought Artist Group International and, through the Paradigm Talent Agency, partnered with London's CODA Music Agency and X-ray Touring. That same year, Burkle acquired a minority stake in Independent Talent through Yucaipa fund.
In 2018, Burkle's investment firm Yucaipa acquired a minority stake in the Spanish music festival Primavera Sound.
In 2020, Burkle made a major investment in the musical festival production Danny Wimmer Presents.

Hospitality investments

In 2014, Burkle acquired Soho House, a chain of hotels and private members’ clubs.
In 2019, Burkle sold a 50% stake in the Sydell Group to MGM Resorts International. He maintains ownership stakes in a number of other hotel properties.

Wild Oats

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 the largest shareholder of Wild Oats.

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.

Sacramento Republic FC

On January 22, 2019, Burkle was announced as the new lead investor of soon-to-be Major League Soccer franchise, the Sacramento Republic FC.

Investments and transactions

Burkle's investments and transactions include:
Burkle has personally contributed millions of dollars to the Democratic Party and raised an estimated $100 million at celebrity-studded fundraising events he hosted for Democratic Party candidates at his Green Acres Estate in Beverly Hills, California. Burkle has hosted fundraisers for Bill and Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Cory Booker, and Terry McAuliffe, as well as former Republican California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, among others.
In January 2011, he hosted a fundraiser to support efforts to overturn Proposition 8, California's ban on same-sex marriage.
In 2004, Burkle helped finance the launch of Al Gore's Current TV, which was sold in January 2013 to Qatar-based cable-news channel Al Jazeera.
During Bill Clinton's presidency, Burkle was a key fundraiser and they became close friends. In 2002, Burkle hired Clinton as a senior advisor on two Yucaipa domestic investment funds. Clinton invested in a Yucaipa global fund focused on foreign companies. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, then-U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton expressed concern that such investments could be used by foreign governments as "instruments of foreign policy."
In 2009, Bill Clinton ended his relationship with Yucaipa due to potential conflicts of interest. Following "months" of negotiations, the two were not able to agree on a final payment for Clinton's advisory services, estimated at up to $20 million, and Clinton "walked away" from the potential payout.

Awards and recognition

Burkle's honors and awards include the Los Angeles County, California Boy Scouts Jimmy Stewart "Good Turn" Award, the AIDS Project Los Angeles Commitment to Life Award, and the Los Angeles Urban League Whitney M. Young Award. He has received numerous honors and awards from labor including the AFL-CIO Murray Green Meany Kirkland Community Service Award and the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor Man of the Year.

Philanthropy

Ronald W. Burkle Foundation

Burkle is founder and chairman of The Ronald W. Burkle Foundation. The Foundation's stated mission is to "positively influence people around the world and their communities" by supporting programs that "strengthen international understanding, foster worker's rights, empower underserved communities, nurture the arts and architecture, engage children in learning and advance scientific research."

Burkle Center for International Relations

Burkle serves as co-chairman of The Ronald W. Burkle Center for International Relations at UCLA, to promote "research on and promotes discussion of international relations, U.S. foreign policy, and complex issues of global cooperation and conflict." The Center has hosted UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and former U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.

Board memberships

Burkle is a trustee of The Scripps Research Institute, The Carter Center, the National Urban League, Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy and AIDS Project Los Angeles. He is a past board member of the J. Paul Getty Trust, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Los Angeles Music Center, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

Fundraising events

Burkle hosts fundraising events for the non-profit Share Our Strength and its No Kid Hungry campaign, which focuses on helping end childhood hunger in the United States.
Burkle also hosts events for The Rape Foundation at his Greenacres Estate.

Disney Concert Hall

In 1997, Burkle donated $15 million for the construction of Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Personal life

Burkle is a fan of historic architecture. In 2011, he purchased the partially restored Ennis House, a Los Angeles landmark designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Burkle owns Greenacres, an estate built for Harold Lloyd. Burkle owns two of entertainer Bob Hope's properties, acquiring his John Lautner-designed Palm Springs home for $13 million in 2016 and Toluca Lake, CA home, originally designed by Richard Finkelhor in the 1930s and expanded in the 1950s by John Elgin Woolf, for $15 million in 2017.
In December 2013, Burkle purchased an Olympic gold medal won by Jesse Owens at the 1936 Berlin Games for $1.4 million and owns William Faulkner's Nobel Prize for Literature.
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. It was purchased on February 5, 1999, for $15.3 million and the current tax assessment is $34 million.
Burkle has worked with Novak Djokovic, world No.1 tennis player at the time, on strategic marketing and charitable initiatives.
In December 2018, Serbian Government opened a consulate in Montana and Burkle was named honorary consul of Serbia in the US. On account of that, he applied for Serbian citizenship, which Serbian Government accepted and he was formally naturalized on November 25, 2019, making him the third Serbian billionaire after Philip Zepter and Miroslav Mišković, according to Forbes' list.
On January 6, 2020, Burkle's son Andrew was found dead in his Beverly Hills Home.

Controversies

Journalism 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. He 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.

Follieri and the Vati-Con scandal

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.

Epstein’s black book

Ronald Burkle name was found in Jeffrey Epstein’s black book and on Epstein’s private jet log.
Burkle took what were described as humanitarian trips to Africa with Bill Clinton on Epstein’s private Boeing 727, the Lolita Express. Following the Africa trip, Burkle reportedly returned home via a commercial jet, referring to Epstein as "creepy".