A spokesman for an investment firm founded and headed by Ron Burkle is denying a report by the New York Times that the Penguins co-owner is negotiating a deal to purchase The National Enquirer tabloid.
“I can confirm we are not in talks to buy the Enquirer,” Frank J. Quintero, spokesman for The Yucaipa Companies, told the Tribune-Review.
The New York Times citing “two people with direct knowledge of the negotiations” reported that Burkle was in “deep” negotiations with American Media Inc., which owns The National Enquirer, but “the deal could still fall apart.”
Ron Burkle, a friend of Bill Clinton and a major Democratic donor, is in talks to buy The National Enquirer, a tabloid praised by President Trump. https://t.co/oohnQLYlv4
— The New York Times (@nytimes) April 11, 2019
The story prompted social media skepticism and speculation.
If I had a nickel for every publication Ron Burkle said he was going to buy, *I* would buy the National Enquirer
— Kris M. Wernowsky (@kriswernowsky) April 11, 2019
Imagine the cache of killed stories he could be buying. https://t.co/DQhzAZ8RcY via @NYTimes
— Mike Bowers (@THEMikeBowers) April 11, 2019
David J. Pecker, American Media’s chief executive, reportedly paid $150,000 for a story from a Playboy model who claimed she had an affair with President Trump, but never published it in an attempt to aid Trump’s presidential campaign.
Burkle reportedly invested $20 million in the Penguins when he and Mario Lemieux, along with dozens of minority owners, bought the franchise out of bankruptcy in 1999 for $107 million.
Forbes estimated late last year that the hockey franchise was worth $650 million. It estimated Burkle’s net worth at $1.5 billion, according to Forbes.
