Billionaire Leon Black, co-founder of one of Wall Street’s most prominent investment firms, unexpectedly stepped down early from his position as chief executive of Apollo Global Management on Monday, the latest in a series of moves following an inquiry into his ties to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Apollo Global Management announced that Black will be leaving immediately, citing health issues he and his wife are experiencing. The company had announced in January that Black would be stepping down as chief executive before 31 July.
Black will also no longer be keeping his role as chairman, a role he was planning to keep when his departure was first announced in January. Marc Rowan, a co-founder of the company, is Apollo’s new chief executive while Jay Clayton, former Securities and Exchange Commission chair, will be chairman of the company.
An independent review commissioned by Apollo into payments Black made to Epstein revealed that he paid the late financier and convicted sex offender a total of $148m for his financial advising services and donated $10m to Epstein’s charity between 2012 and 2017, years after Epstein had pleaded guilty to a state prostitution charge in Florida in 2008. Black severed ties with Epstein in 2018 following a financial dispute.
While the report concluded that there was no evidence that Black was involved with Epstein’s criminal activities, which largely involved the sex-trafficking of underage girls, Black’s once close ties with Epstein alarmed Apollo’s investors. In a statement following the release of the report, Black said he “deeply regret[s] having had any involvement” with Epstein.
Epstein killed himself in prison in 2019 and those who were close to him are still experiencing deep fallouts because of their ties. Leslie Wexner, who once considered Epstein his personal money adviser, stepped down as chief executive of L Brands, parent company of Victoria’s Secret, after scrutiny of his relationship with Epstein. Last week, Wexner announced he will be leaving the L Brands board.
In a statement on Monday, Black said now is “the ideal moment to step back and focus on my family, my wife Debra’s and my health issues, and my many other interests”. He also said that he intends to remain the company’s largest shareholder.
