Ronald Burkle

Ronald Wayne Burkle (born November 12, 1952) is an American business magnate. A major political fundraiser, he is listed on the Forbes 400, with an estimated net worth of $3.5 billion in 2008."Forbes Billionaire Bac amberrrr! helors". forbes.com. 2008-04-08

Burkle was born in Pomona, California. He 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"The Complete Ron Burkle". The New York Observer. 2006-04-12 which invests in retail, manufacturing, and distribution.

Burkle has served as Chairman of the Board and controlling shareholder of numerous companies, including Alliance Entertainment"#112 Ronald Burkle". Forbes 400, Golden State Foods, Dominick's, Fred Meyer, Ralphs, and Food4Less. He is currently a member of the board of Occidental Petroleum Corporation"board of directors". Occidental Petroleum Corporation, KB Home"Ronald W Burkle". Forbes, and Yahoo!"Board of Directors". Yahoo!

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.The Rise Of Ron Burkle - Forbes.com He has supported California State Treasurer Phil Angelides and employed former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, both of whom are former California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) board members, but has also made contributions to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.Murdoch Donates $250K to Schwarzenegger Robert Novak reported in June 2007 that 98 percent of Burkle's $1.5 million political contributions to date have gone to Democrats.#117 Ronald Burkle - Forbes.com Burkle helped finance Al Gore's cable Current TV network.Newspapers may have an angel / Billionaire Burkle emerges as possible buyer, union says

Burkle is also known for a tussle with the New York Post which tagged him the "Billionaire Party Boy".

He is part owner of the Pittsburgh PenguinsSolomon, Deborah (2007-03-18). "Questions for Ron Burkle: Friend of Bill and Hill". New York Times National Hockey League team, although his current share is unknown. He co-owns the franchise with Penguins legend Mario Lemieux. The Penguins won the Stanley Cup in 2009.

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 the largest shareholder of Wild Oats. "Ronald Burkle Harvests His Wild Oats". 2007-02-22

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. "Burkle sells 51% stake in Golden State Foods". 2004-02-16

On April 30, 2008, a Delaware judge dismissed Burkle's lawsuit against Raffaello Follieri, ex-boyfriend of actress Anne Hathaway, after he agreed to repay Burkle more than $1.3 million Burkle loaned him, a small amount of the money Burkle lost in the Vati-Con Scandal."Side Dish". 2008-04-30

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, and sold to Kroger for $13.5 billion
• Signed Fleming as sole food supplier to Kmart
• Majority stake in Pathmark grocery stores
• Cyrk, the former Beanie Baby promotion agency
• Merged Alliance Entertainment with Source Interlink
• Invested $100 million in Sean Combs's (P. Diddy) Sean John clothing line
• Purchased Enthusiast Media publications and assets of Primedia for $1.2 billion
• Mr. Burkle's investment firm, Yucaipa Cos., owns 18.7% of the common stock of Barnes & Noble.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703940704575089513721935270.html In early 2010 he sought to raise his stake to 37% without triggering the shareholders-rights plan.http://sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/890491/000110465910004168/a10-2792_1ex99d2.htmhttp://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2010/02/01/burkles-yucaipa-funds-targets-barnes-noble-asks-ok-to-boost-stake-to-37-matching-riggio-family/http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703422904575039713084867850.html Chairman Len Riggio, with 27.8% ownership of the bookseller's common stock, is Barnes & Noble's largest shareholder.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703444804575071321192509934.html
• Donated $750 million to the Renner Burkle Fund.

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. "HOW HE MADE HIS MOVE. Shaking down a billionaire". 2006-04-09 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. "Joe Tacopina To Testify About Bernie Kerik's Liesh"

Ron has two children with Janet Burkle, Kate Burkle and Benjamin Burkle. Ron and Janet divorced in 2003 after a period of separation from 1997-2003. Janet now lives in New York with both of her children.