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 which invests in retail, manufacturing, and distribution.

Burkle 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 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. 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. Robert Novak reported in June 2007 that 98 percent of Burkle's $1.5 million political contributions to date have gone to Democrats. Burkle helped finance Al Gore's cable Current TV network.

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





Ron Burkle donated a whopping $50,000 to Celebrity Apprentice. Ronald Wayne Burkle was born on November 12, 1952 is a successful American businessman and a major political fundraiser. He was listed as the wealthiest man on the Forbes 400 with an estimated wealth of $3.5 billion in the year 2008.

He own firm called the Yucaipa group of Companies. He donated $50, 000 to a reality show, Celebrity Apprentice 2010, Holly Robinson Peete on Sunday night during a challenge to raise the most money to create a fitness class for 24 Hour Fitness.

“Holly Robinson Peete worked the phones as Project Manager for her team, and with just seconds to spare, she had a HUGE $50,000 donation come through from Ron Burkle. This allowed Holly Robinson Peete and Team Tenacity to rise over $200,000.


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