L.A. investment firm hires Clinton as adviser (AP, from CNN.com, 4/11/2002)
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Bill Clinton will serve as a senior adviser to a pair of investment funds headed by a former grocery store magnate who is a friend of the former president.
Some of Clinton's new duties as counsel to the Yucaipa American Fund and the Yucaipa Corporate Initiatives Fund will include meeting with political leaders and company heads in communities where the funds hope to invest. The funds specialize in lower-income urban and rural communities.
"We are proud that President Clinton will serve as a senior advisor to our firm," said Ron Burkle, managing partner of The Yucaipa Companies. "Much of what we have accomplished and continue to pursue in our investment strategy matches the platform the president outlined while in office with his New Markets Initiative."
Clinton's staff confirmed the appointment in a statement released Wednesday.
Burkle would not disclose how much Clinton would be compensated for his services but said his pay would be based on the performance of the funds.
Burkle made his fortune in the grocery store business after starting out doing odd jobs at a supermarket when he was 5 and later moving on to bagging groceries. He sold Fred Meyer to Kroger for about $8 billion in 1999.
Burkle and his company also have contributed more than $1 million to the Democrat and Republican parties in the last four years.
Based in Los Angeles, Yucaipa was created in 1986 and has brokered 21 investment transactions worth more than $14 billion.
Clinton has spent most of his time since he left the White House writing his memoirs and speaking on the lecture circuit.
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