Ron Burkle

Ron Burkle's Yucaipa Companies invested M in Sean 'Diddy' Combs' fashion brand Sean John in 2003. Burkle is reportedly godfather to Combs' children. In 2015 they co-invested in AquaHydrate with Mark Wahlberg. Burkle hosted Combs' birthday party at his Beverly Hills estate (Green Acres). This entertainment/modeling industry proximity places Burkle in the same NYC/LA social circuit as Zampolli's modeling world.

Zampolli arranged the July 2005 meeting between Ron Burkle and Page Six freelancer Jared Paul Stern at the Palace Hotel penthouse. Zampolli acted as intermediary between Burkle and NY Post gossip press, establishing a direct personal connection between the two men.

FBI intake document (EFTA01245005, Serial 414, 07/02/2020) records anonymous caller telling FBI that law enforcement should speak to Ted Waitt and Ron Burkle about Epstein/Maxwell. Caller said Maxwell 'was the one in charge of getting the girls and Waitt was there and knows what was going on.' Caller described Burkle as 'a prominent real estate developer in Los Angeles' whom she knew 'through aviation.'

Ghislaine Maxwell emailed someone (likely Epstein) on March 16, 2003 mentioning Burkle calling her: 'Hey Burkle is calling me - do you know what he wants?' (EFTA00582272). Separately, Richard Merkin emailed Epstein on April 29, 2013: 'Thought I would see you tonight at burkle's? I will call you tomorrow.' (EFTA00628020). These DOJ corpus documents establish that Burkle had direct communication with Maxwell and hosted events attended by Epstein's social circle.

FBI witness interview (EFTA00153851) with a model describes meeting Ron Burkle in the context of the Epstein network. The witness met Epstein through David Blaine, attended events at Epstein's island, and also 'met RON BURKLE but did not remember if she met him before or after she met EPSTEIN.' The same witness encountered Naomi Campbell, Ghislaine Maxwell, and multiple other young women/models in the Epstein orbit.

Ron Burkle flew on Epstein's Boeing 727 ('Lolita Express') on a 2002 trip to Africa with Bill Clinton, Kevin Spacey, Chris Tucker, Casey Wasserman, and others for Clinton Foundation AIDS/economic development work. Burkle was listed in Epstein's black book (confirmed by LittleSis relationship data). Multiple DOJ corpus articles reference this trip. A source close to Burkle says he found Epstein 'creepy' and flew home commercially.

Epstein and associates discussed Burkle as a potential partner for Hollywood deals. In June-July 2015 emails, Barry Josephson forwarded articles about Relativity Media's bankruptcy to Epstein (jeevacation@gmail.com), and Epstein responded with the single word 'burkle' — suggesting Burkle as a potential buyer/investor for distressed entertainment assets. Burkle later did finance Relativity Media and the attempted Weinstein Co. acquisition.

2024 unsealed Epstein court documents (second batch, Jan 2024) included Ron Burkle among named individuals. Court records indicated Burkle had 'knowledge of Epstein and his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell's sexual trafficking conduct.' Burkle has not been charged. He was also named in the DOJ Epstein Files release (3.5M pages, 2026).