Aside from the fact that he is part of the Pittsburgh Penguins‘ ownership group, the hockey world doesn’t know much about Ron Burkle.
We hear his name from time to time, but the billionaire businessman has preferred to stay out of the spotlight since joining forces with Mario Lemieux back in 1999 to lift the team from the brink of bankruptcy.
So when Penguins reporter Dave Molinari published an in-depth feature on Burkle following an exclusive interview with Burkle, it certainly piqued our interest.
“It was, team officials said, the first – and last – such interview he will do,” Molinari wrote.
The piece, published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Thursday, is a fascinating look at Burkle’s life, from his business philosophy and understated style to his passion for the Penguins and his ability to help bring the team from bankruptcy to back-to-back Stanley Cup champs.
You can read the article in its entirety here. In the meantime, here are some interesting takeaways:
1. Mario Lemieux credits Burkle, whose value is estimated to be between $1.5 billion and $3 billion, for saving the franchise.
[blockquote]“Ron is one of the main reasons we still have hockey in Pittsburgh,” Lemieux said. “If I was not able to buy the Penguins and have Ron as our top investor, I don’t think the Penguins would be here today.
“He’s a great guy and a very smart businessman. He loves Pittsburgh, he loves the Penguins. I think people should know that.”[/blockquote]
2. Burkle, on the other hand, prefers to let Lemieux take the lead.
[blockquote]“It doesn’t serve the team any purpose or me any purpose to have a high profile,” Burkle said. “Mario is the hockey guy and he’s the Pittsburgh guy and he’s also an incredibly nice and easy-going person and everything.”[/blockquote]
3. He spares no expense in the name of Penguins success.
[blockquote]“Anything the hockey department wants, whether it’s in the form of money to sign a player or hockey staff or make things the best possible for our players, he’s never said, ‘No,’” Penguins GM Jim Rutherford said. “He never hesitates.
“He has made it clear to me, right from the first day I met him, that he will do anything to make this the best, the most successful place to work and a place where you always have a chance to win.”[/blockquote]
4. You’ll rarely see him in a suit. Instead, he’s got a penchant for polos.
[blockquote]On one of the bookshelves that hold memorabilia in his SoHo residence, Burkle displays a gift he received from Lauren: A glass case containing a black polo shirt, with handwritten instructions to break the glass, in case of emergency.
“Even Ralph Lauren makes fun of me for wearing Ralph Lauren,” he said, smiling.[/blockquote]
5. The business partnership between Lemieux and Burkle, established in 1999, came together very quickly.
[blockquote]“It was a half-hour meeting,” Lemieux said. “And he was my partner.
“He’s one of the smartest people I’ve met. A very smart businessman. … You want him on your side, for sure.”[/blockquote]
6. Despite rumours that have surfaced about Lemieux looking to distance himself from the Penguins, Burkle doesn’t want to sell.
[blockquote]“I came in with Mario, and I always promised that I’d go out with him,” Burkle said. “I’d either buy him out or I would go out when he went out. I would like to own the team forever. That would be my wish.” [/blockquote]
7. Burkle now believes Lemieux doesn’t want to sell, either.
[blockquote]“I think [Lemieux] has balanced, in terms of how much of his life is the Penguins now. I think he’s much better balanced than he was before.
“All the kids were leaving the house and he had a big home up in Canada. ‘Should I go live there full-time?’ or ‘How much time should I spend in Pittsburgh?’ Now, he’s remodeling the house in Pittsburgh.
“When I saw him on the ice after we won [the Stanley Cup in June] – you look at all the interesting things that go on when you win – he’s talking to reporters, and he’s beaming. I was like, ‘OK, he’s in a good place.’”[/blockquote]
8. He has a great relationship with players past and present, and has a lot of respect for goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.
[blockquote]“…what Fleury did for us by being more of a stand-up person than you could ever imagine anybody being and [Rutherford’s] call to keep him all year, which was exactly the right thing to do – I wish we could have given the $15 million [expansion fee] back and kept him forever.
“For the parade to be kind of his end, although he made the end classier and classier and classier, at the time of the parade, I thought, ‘This is probably Fleury’s last moment with the Penguins.’ I could ramble on about it, but it had its own reasons to be really great, and it kind of culminated for me in the parade.”[/blockquote]
9. He always budgets for the playoffs.
[blockquote]“We’re a profitable team, under almost any scenario,” Burkle said. “From a budgeting point of view, we assume we’ll make the second round [of the playoffs].
“That’s kind of our baseline, when we look up what we can do over the course of the year without doing something unusual, capital-wise. We assume we’ll make the second round.”[/blockquote]
10. He believes the team should visit the White House if invited.
[blockquote]“I think it’s a tradition that should be honored, first and foremost,” Burkle said. “There’s a lot of emotion around the president. There’s a lot of negativity, and there’s a lot of passion. But it is the president, it is the White House.
“If you want to protest, you can protest. If you want to be unhappy, you can be unhappy. If you want to voice your opinion, you can voice your opinion. But I, personally, don’t think this is the stage to do it on.
“It’s an honor to go there. It’s a moment a lot of people won’t ever get again. I hope we win again, but you don’t take it for granted that you get to go to the White House. … Every time I go there, it’s an amazing thing. I don’t think that who the occupant is should determine whether the team goes to the White House.”[/blockquote]
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