Ronald W. Burkle
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Burkle Ronald W. Burkle
Ronald W. Burkle, one of California's richest men, has quietly amassed billions of dollars over the years. An unfolding federal investigation into possible extortion by a contributor to Page Six, The New York Post's popular and influential gossip page, has thrust Mr. Burkle, and the various gilded worlds he inhabits, into the national spotlight. Mr. Burkle is a supermarket mogul and financier who, unlike some tycoons who court gossip columnists, has always said he prefers to be let alone. Mr. Burkle began speculating in the stock market while still a teenager, completed high school early, and dropped out of dental school to return to the grocery store business. Mr. Burkle, a kingmaker in California political circles and a confidant of a former governor, Gray Davis, has also been a loyal supporter of Mr. Clinton.