http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/23/nyregion/23burkle.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5090&en=8072d510a5b4ab09&ex=1303444800&partner=rssuserland&emc=rssHow a Billionaire Friend of Bill Helps Him Do Good, and Well
Bam!
By JOHN M. BRODER and PATRICK HEALY
Published: April 23, 2006
Sock!
Mr. Clinton's role is to help find investment opportunities for Yucaipa projects, give credibility to the funds and champion their mission of investing in poor areas to corporate executives, union leaders and others. But he has put up little of his own money and has no day-to-day responsibilities over how the more than $1 billion in the funds is invested.
Pow!
Mr. Clinton, 59, spends most of his time on philanthropic ventures, like fighting AIDS in Africa and poverty around the world, and minimal time on Yucaipa, his advisers say. Mr. Burkle, 53, who made his fortune operating supermarkets, said that the time Mr. Clinton does spend on the funds is invaluable because of the incomparable access and political star power he provides
Kick!
Interviews with Mr. Burkle and aides to Mr. Clinton have provided the first details of the business relationship between the former president and Mr. Burkle, a major Democratic donor who is now a fund-raising force for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. He served as host for a fund-raiser for Mrs. Clinton at his Beverly Hills estate on Friday night.
Sink!
The three Yucaipa funds that Mr. Clinton advises total more than $1 billion, according to interviews and public records. Mr. Burkle would not disclose the precise amounts, citing competitive concerns, but Yucaipa manages in excess of $3 billion, of which these three funds are a subset. The funds are intended to inject investment capital into poor urban and rural areas in the United States and abroad that traditional equity funds and banks are reluctant to serve, Mr. Burkle said.
Float!
Under terms described by Clinton advisers and Mr. Burkle, Mr. Clinton will receive a share of Mr. Burkle's profits on two domestic funds should their returns exceed 9 percent over the life of the funds. One fund had reported a gain of 51.3 percent and the other 25.8 percent in 2005, according to reports to investors.
Mr. Clinton is also a partner in a Yucaipa fund that invests in overseas ventures, for which he receives regular payments and would draw one-third of the profits when the fund is dissolved at least five years from now.
Gurgle!
After leaving the White House in 2001, former President Bill Clinton was inundated with business and job offers, from investment-bank partnerships to seats on corporate boards. He turned them all down, with one exception: He agreed to be an adviser to a family of funds run by the Yucaipa Companies, a California private equity firm controlled by one of his best friends, the billionaire Ronald W. Burkle.
Bam!
"If we make money, he makes money," Mr. Burkle said. He would not be more specific about Mr. Clinton's compensation. But if the funds perform as well as Mr. Burkle's other investment funds have over the past two decades, Mr. Clinton's share of the profits could reach into the tens of millions of dollars.
Pitchforks!
While the business activities of ex-presidents are not always in public view, they are known to have pursued a variety of profit-making and charitable activities after leaving office. George H. W. Bush became a paid adviser to the Carlyle Group, a private investment house in Washington that does a lot of business with the Pentagon and other federal agencies.
Ronald Reagan received $2 million for a speech in Japan, but spent most of his post-presidency at home with Alzheimer's disease. Jimmy Carter has written many books and devoted himself to philanthropic pursuits like Habitat for Humanity.
Gerald R. Ford has been paid for speaking to groups but has generally kept a low profile. Richard Nixon wrote books and tried to rehabilitate his image.
Torches!
Correction: April 25, 2006
A front-page article on Sunday about former President Bill Clinton's friendship with Ronald Burkle, the California financier and grocery chain operator, referred incompletely to the fate of Mr. Burkle's supermarkets during the Los Angeles riots of 1992 (an event that led Mr. Clinton to seek out the businessman after being told that rioters had spared some of his markets because of his reputation for fairness). Although some of Mr. Burkle's markets were spared, others were burned or otherwise damaged by rioters.
Pitchforks! Bam! Kick! Torches!
Yucaipa! Arrrghhhh! :rofl:
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