California billionaire investor Ronald W. Burkle, 66, has denied reports that he’s interested in purchasing the National Enquirer, which was put up for sale by American Media Inc on Wednesday.
On Thursday reports emerged that the grocery-chain investor, who is friends with Clintons and AMI president David Pecker, was in ‘deep talks’ to purchase the tabloid, but a spokesperson denied them saying no such talks have occurred.
‘We are not interested in, looking at and have not approached AMI about buying the National Enquirer,’ an official for Burkle’s Yucaipa Companies investment firm told The Wrap Thursday afternoon.
The spokesperson added that despite the New York Times report published Thursday claiming Burkle was buying the paper, no reporter from the NYT had contacted the billionaire’s press office.
The news comes as Jeff Bezos is reportedly set to meet with federal prosecutors in New York this week over his extortion claims against the National Enquirer.
California billionaire investor Ronald W. Burkle has denied reports that he’s looking to purchase the National Enquirer, which was put up for sale by American Media Inc Wednesday. Burkle pictured right with Barack Obama
Burkle is friends with AMI CEO and president David Pecker (right) and they’ve had joint media ventures in the past. He’s also a known Democratic donor who has close ties to Bill Clinton (together left)
‘We are not interested in, looking at and have not approached AMI about buying the National Enquirer,’ a spokesperson for Burkle’s Yucaipa Companies investment firm said Thursday
The Amazon CEO claims that Saudi Arabia hacked into his phone and ‘gained private information,’ such as his messages with mistress Lauren Sanchez that ended up in the hands American Media Inc.
The company’s tabloid National Enquirer then allegedly threatened the billionaire after he launched an investigation into how they obtained the messages related to his affair.
Bezos in turn wrote a blog post accusing the paper of extortion and blackmailing him, threatening to publish embarrassing photos of him and his girlfriend.
American Media Inc announced on Wednesday that it wants to sell the National Enquirer (along with their papers the Globe and the National Examiner), months after the outlet revealed on Bezos’ affair on their front page.
The decision to the put the paper up for sale came after AMI company stakeholders became reportedly ‘disgusted’ with the Enquirer’s reporting tactics, according to the Washington Post.
Jeff Bezos is reportedly set to meet with federal prosecutors in New York this week over his extortion and hacking claims against the National Enquirer and Saudi Arabia
Prosecutors investigating Bezos’ claims are currently seeking to obtain access to the CEO’s electronic devices to investigate the Saudi hacking claims.
His attorneys have been in negotiations regarding his electronics and recently turned over to federal authorities documents and other materials from their own inquiry, but not his devices.
Gavin de Becker, Bezos’ security consultant, has accused AMI of being ‘in league’ with Saudi Arabia, targeting the billionaire and gaining ‘access’ to his phone and private information.
Bezos believed he was targeted over his ownership of the Washington Post and their coverage of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Despite Bezos’ claims, it’s not clear if federal prosecutors have any evidence to corroborate the hacking claims or whether there’s a connection to the National Enquirer story about the affair.
Matthew Schwartz, Bezos’ lawyer, has not commented on the meeting with prosecutors.
As for AMI, the company has been mired in scandal after they admitted to being involved in a hush-money scheme to influence the 2016 presidential election.
The company was outed for silencing a woman who claimed she had an affair with Trump. That hush-money payment was orchestrated in part by Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen.
In a prosecution agreement made last year, AMI agreed not to commit any crimes for three years.
Prosecutors are now trying to determine if AMI broke that agreement as part of the Bezos National Enquirer scandal.
As AMI – run by president and CEO David Pecker – has been hit with scandals, declining circulation numbers and debt, much of the company relies on the support of Anthony Melchiorre, a hedge fund manager and managing partner at Chatham Asset Management, who holds an 80 per cent stake in the company.
Melchiorre encouraged the sale of National Enquirer, motivated by financial difficulties and his ‘distaste’ for the Enquirer’s tactics.
As of Thursday, it’s not clear if AMI is in talks with anyone for the purchase after Burkle dismissed rumors he was an interested buyer, despite having working with the company previously.
Burkle and Pecker are known to be friends and have invested in media deals together in the past.
Together they backed Radar when it started as a print magazine in 2003. Burkle pulled out in 2008, leading the magazine to close and later reopen as an online site.
He’s currently a junior partner with AMI with RadarOnline, according to the New York Post.
The divorced father-of-three also currently sits on the board for Yahoo.
He also once boarded a plane owned by millionaire Jeffrey Epstein, who is accused of soliciting teenagers for sex, on the invitation of Bill Clinton who used the Boeing 727 to take a humanitarian trip to Africa along with Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker according to Vanity Fair.