Ronald Wayne Burkle was born on 12 November 1952, in Pomona, California USA, and is an investor and philanthropist, best known for being the co-founder of The Yucaipa Companies, LLC., which is dedicated to helping under performing companies in the US. All of Burkle’s efforts have helped put his net worth to where it is today.
So just how rich is Ron Burkle? As of mid-2016, sources inform us of a net worth that is at $2.6 billion, mostly earned through a successful career as an investor. His company is responsible for numerous acquisitions and mergers of various grocery chains, including Fred Meyer and Jurgensen’s. All of these have ensured the position of his wealth.
Ron Burkle Net Worth $2.6 billion
At a young age, Ron helped his father manage a grocery store, and saw how his father started investing savings into apartment buildings. After matriculating from high school, he attended California State Polytechnic University, Pomona to study dentistry, but dropped out two years later. Early in his career, he turned a $3,000 investment in American Silver into $30,000, and would look to use the money to flip grocery stores that were not doing well. He then became the store manager of Stater Bros, and later the vice-president of the parent company Petrolane, Inc. He tried to buy out Stater Bros but was rejected, and he would then use the next five years to continuously invest in stocks and rental properties his family owned. His net worth was around $5 million at this point.
In 1986, he founded Yucaipa Companies, and would become a shareholder of numerous companies, which include Dominick’s, Ralphs, Food4Less, and Alliance Entertainment. He is also a board member of Yahoo!, Occidental Petroleum Corporation and KB Home. All contribute to his net worth.
Aside from these, it is known that he is a part owner of the National Hockey League (NHL) team, the Pittsburgh Penguins though the extent of his share is undisclosed. He’s also invested in numerous technology start-ups including SoundCloud and Airbnb, and in the entertainment company Three Lions Entertainment, and bought Wild Oats Market stock to the extent where he is the largest shareholder. He was also one of the majority stake holders of Golden State Foods but eventually sold his share of one of the biggest McDonald’s suppliers.
He’s made numerous transactions and investments which continuously improved his net worth. Some of these include selling Food 4 Less, Ralphs, and Fred Meyer to Kroger for a total of $13.5 billion. He also owns almost 20% of the common stock of Barnes & Noble and sold the Dominick’s chain for over $200 million in any awards and honors; these include the AIDS Project Los Angeles Commitment to Life Award, The Los Angeles County Federation of Labour Man of the Year, and the Los Angeles Urban League Whitney M. Young Award.
For his personal life, it is known that Burkle was married to Janet Steeper(1974-2006) and they have three children. Ronald is a fan of historic architecture, and has been responsible for the restoration of a few sites including Ennis House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and he also purchased a Jesse Owens’ Olympic gold medal. He does numerous philanthropic works too, mostly through The Ronald W. Burkle Foundation. He is also the co-chairman of The Ronald W. Burkle Center of International Relations, which promotes global cooperation.
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