P. Diddy Pal Ron Burkle Makes Us Wonder Is Soho House Another WeWork?
How many billionaires are spies? It’s a simple question but it’s surprisingly hard to answer. Of course when we talk about spies we don’t necessarily mean someone who goes to The Farm but someone who acts as a front for another government. Sometimes they act wittingly; sometimes unwittingly.
I’d argue that it’s nearly impossible to become a billionaire if not for the backing of a foreign government. So I look for that backing whenever I encounter one. Sometimes you learn that there are multiple foreign governments behind them.
To be a proper billionaire you have proxies. These proxies can take many forms from lobbyists, advisors, pay to say journalists and even fixers. Some take on the form of a surrogate son or child. Some are even secret lovers. It keeps them connected.
It’s through the proxies that the billionaire is most vulnerable. So is the case with Sean “P. Diddy” Combs and Ron Burkle.
Let’s look at a revealing photo in the Daily News from October 12, 2004.
Here it is.
The accompanying October 12, 2004 New York Daily News article — “Lots of lettuce on line in grocer’s split” — how discusses Burkle and his wife Janet fought over their 12-year-old son in their divorce. It’s like something out of a spy or mob movie.
Ron Burkle wants the boy kept away from Charles Allen, a personal trainer Ron says Janet has been dating.
His court papers allege that Allen pled guilty to attempted murder as a part of a drug deal.
Allen’s lawyer, former O.J. Simpson prosecutor Chris Darden, alleged that Ron Burkle has hired private eyes to tail Allen and to install hidden cameras in the homes of Allen and Janet Burkle.
The Burkles’ adult daughter, Carrie Anne, says in an affidavit that her father has security video of Janet and Allen having sex.
“It seems that the sex was really rough,” Carrie Anne Burkle’s affidavit states, adding that her dad wondered if her mother’s recent black eye was from sex.
We need to reexamine these accusations in light of the charging documents against P. Diddy which accuse P. Diddy of secretly recording his guests at the so-called “freak offs.”
P. Diddy didn’t invent the tactics of the tsarist secret police but boy did he update them for the modern era. The rapper turned mogul now finds himself in federal custody. He’s accused of sexual blackmail against men and women.
Did Burkle use the insights P. Diddy got from these recorded kompromat sessions? Burkle is, after all, turning his attention to his production company. Surely having intelligence on various stars could prove useful.
If it’s true that SoHo House has been spying on people coming and going in SoHo House that litigation risk could imperil the take private bid that Burkle’s been angling for and which fellow investor Dan Loeb has been blocking.
If that’s what’s really going on it’s not that much different from the series of events which led to the end of Israeli Navy captain Adam Neumann’s WeWork empire.
We might ask if Burkle is a money launderer too. Take a look at his portfolio. Groceries. Candy. Car dealerships. Inland empire real estate…. and bitcoin?
There’s a rather cartoonish discussion about Burkle and the Winklevosses in the 2019 book Bitcoin Billionaires: A True Story of Genius, Betrayal, and Redemption.
I recommend it to your attention, especially this part.
Last month Winklevoss twins’ agreed to pay $5M fine to settle bitcoin case with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
They’re still being investigated by several state attorneys general.
It’s essential to bust these guys before it gets out of control.
Take it from Ron who went from bagger to bagman.
You might suspect, as I do, that all of those billionaires who donated to Donald Trump are going to get another rude awakening — that all of their money can’t buy them what they want.
You might consider this Trump 2.0 presidency — the Fed Trap presidency — as one of the great ones.