Leon Black Steps Down as Apollo CEO
Leon Black announces he will step down as CEO of Apollo Global Management following the release of an independent review confirming he paid approximately $158 million in fees to Epstein.
People Involved
Event Details
On March 25, 2021, Leon Black announced he would step down as CEO of Apollo Global Management, effective immediately. Marc Rowan would succeed him as CEO.
The announcement followed the January 2021 release of an independent review by Dechert LLP, commissioned by Black after mounting pressure from Apollo’s board. The review confirmed that Black had paid approximately $158 million in fees to Jeffrey Epstein between 2012 and 2017 — by far the largest payment to Epstein from any individual aside from his core financial patrons.
The review concluded the payments were for legitimate tax and estate planning. Black maintained he had done nothing wrong but acknowledged that the controversy had become a distraction that justified leadership transition.
Black remained on Apollo’s board as a non-executive chairman for several months before fully departing from the firm he had co-founded in 1990. His departure marked one of the most significant financial industry consequences of the Epstein scandal for a living executive.