Billionaire Ron Burkle accuses his political power-broker protégé of multimillion-dollar fraud

Billionaire Ronald Burkle is suing political power-broker Darius Anderson, accusing his former protégé and good friend of dishonest him out of thousands and thousands of {dollars}.

Burkle alleges that Anderson used the billionaire’s community and a seed funding to construct a robust lobbying agency — solely to later divert Burkle’s share of the earnings to himself. The authorized feud marks a dramatic falling-out between Anderson and his longtime mentor Burkle, who was the very best man at Anderson’s marriage ceremony.

Anderson has responded with a lawsuit of his personal looking for to dissolve the lobbying agency on account of Burkle’s “greed, mercurial habits, and public reporting of relationships held by Mr. Burkle with sure people,” in line with a grievance filed by Anderson’s firm DWA Enterprises.

Anderson’s authorized counsel referenced media studies on Burkle’s connections to Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein when requested what particular relationships his consumer had issues about.

Burkle’s legal professional Patty Glaser dismissed these references as an effort to distract from Anderson’s personal wrongdoing, stating that Burkle has maintained for many years that Epstein “was a creep” and that his solely connection to Weinstein was as an investor in motion pictures produced by his corporations.

The authorized wrangling started on Feb. 6, when OA 3, LLC, an organization Burkle owns, filed a lawsuit accusing Anderson of paying himself greater than $16.5 million from the accounts of his lobbying agency from 2014 to 2025, whereas purposely depriving Burkle of any share within the earnings.

OA 3 owns a 20% stake in Anderson’s lobbying agency Platinum Advisors, LLC, in line with the grievance. The Sacramento-based agency with workplaces in San Francisco and Washington, D.C., has represented dozens of highly effective shoppers, together with Anthem Inc., Sony Interactive Leisure and Capital One, in line with its web site.

The lawsuit additional accuses Anderson of utilizing two offshoot LLCs and an actual property firm to funnel himself round $5 million in further earnings.

“Anderson quietly orchestrated a decade-long marketing campaign of self-dealing — funneling thousands and thousands to himself by way of undisclosed funds, creating secret competing entities, and systematically depriving his enterprise companion of each greenback owed,” alleges the grievance filed in Los Angeles Superior Courtroom by OA 3 in opposition to Anderson and a number of other of his enterprise ventures.

In response, Anderson accused Burkle of trying to “smear” him as a part of a “broader technique to extract an unwarranted financial fee,” in line with a grievance filed by Anderson’s firm DWA Enterprises in opposition to Burkle’s entity OA 3.

Anderson alleges within the grievance that Burkle has made greater than an 800% return on a small seed funding he made within the lobbying agency, whereas doing no work for the enterprise.

Anderson’s firm DWA Enterprises filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Courtroom looking for to dissolve the lobbying agency Platinum Advisors LLC, arguing the companions have “reached an deadlock” and may now not work collectively. DWA Enterprises filed the same lawsuit in San Francisco asking a choose to dissolve Anderson’s actual property firm Kenwood Investments LLC, through which Burkle’s firm owns a ten% share.

On a extra private scale, the authorized duel between Burkle and Anderson has grow to be a battle over repute — as these two influential figures in California politics and enterprise assault one another’s character.

“On his eponymous web site, Darius Anderson touts himself as a ‘modern-day renaissance man,’” the lawsuit filed by Burkle’s firm states. “Anderson’s picture seems massive on the touchdown web page, wearing cowboy apparel. … Anderson shouldn’t be a renaissance man, however moderately a supervisor who abused his authority and betrayed the fiduciary duties he owed to his investor, good friend, and mentor.”

In a press release, Anderson’s authorized counsel stated it has grow to be “untenable” for Anderson to be related to Burkle “in mild of public reporting about his affiliations with sure people” equivalent to Weinstein and Epstein. Anderson alleges that these relationships have negatively affected his enterprise and led to “reputational issues raised by feminine staff,” in line with his firm’s grievance.

Burkle stated in a cellphone interview that he has not been to the lobbying agency’s workplaces nor interacted with its feminine staff. He maintained that his solely relationship to the enterprise was that of a passive investor.

Burkle’s identify appeared in courtroom paperwork launched in 2024 accusing him of getting information of Epstein’s sexual-trafficking conduct. Burkle stated he flew as soon as on Epstein’s jet as a part of a humanitarian journey with President Clinton in 2002. He stated he didn’t see something unlawful, however discovered Epstein to be “unusual” and opted to fly dwelling business.

Burkle is estimated to have a $3.9-billion internet value, in line with Forbes. He constructed his fortune shopping for and promoting grocery store chains, investing in tech corporations equivalent to Airbnb and Uber and as a part-owner of the NHL Pittsburgh Penguins.

Although Anderson’s relationship with the billionaire has turned bitter, it started as an amicable partnership greater than three a long time in the past.

In 1995, Anderson labored at Burkle’s Los Angeles–primarily based non-public fairness agency the Yucaipa Cos. Whereas working there, Anderson persuaded Burkle to supply him with $100,000 in seed capital to launch his lobbying agency Platinum Advisors, in line with the grievance filed by Burkle’s firm.

For years, Burkle served as a mentor and a good friend, even extending Anderson a private mortgage to buy his dwelling, the grievance alleges.

Burkle alleges that Anderson stopped paying him in 2014 after changing into indignant with him over an unspecified private dispute, the grievance states. As an alternative, Anderson started paying himself massive “assured funds” — compensation made to an organization member no matter earnings — guaranteeing his corporations appeared to generate little or no distributable revenue, the grievance alleges.

Anderson didn’t dedicate sufficient time to the lobbying agency to deserve these “exorbitant” funds, Burkle claims, as throughout this time interval he was additionally serving as chief govt of a looking membership and restaurant, the proprietor of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, the CEO of an actual property agency, the founding father of a charity and the member of a number of boards.

Burkle stated he grew to become conscious of Anderson’s alleged wrongdoing in fall 2025 when Anderson tried to purchase out his share of the lobbying agency for $1 million. Burkle claims he was then denied entry to a good portion of the lobbying agency’s monetary data and that Anderson later admitted that “he secretly retaliated in opposition to Burkle” by not paying Burkle’s firm any distributions of the agency’s earnings.

Within the lawsuit Anderson’s firm filed in response, the businessman alleges that he tried to achieve an settlement with Burkle to wind down the lobbying enterprise and “totally handle any financial points, equivalent to fee of liabilities and distributions to members.” Anderson says the lads have reached an deadlock and is asking a choose to dissolve their enterprise connections.

Burkle argues Anderson dedicated multimillion-dollar fraud on the corporations Burkle invested in and is looking for damages, the discharge of accounting data and restitution.

Instances employees author Seema Mehta contributed to this report.