Billionaire Burkle sued by hotel partner over alleged 'coup'

Manhattan

BILLIONAIRE Ron Burkle is accused in a lawsuit of trying to stage a coup to oust his partner from the chief executive post of a boutique hotel-development venture so he can use the company for his own benefit.

Mr Burkle and real estate developer Andrew Zobler teamed up more than a decade ago to develop, promote and operate boutique hotels. Their Sydell Group manages properties including the NoMad in New York, the LINE Hotel in Los Angeles and the Freehand hotels in Chicago, Miami and Los Angeles.