---
alias:
- Leon David Black
born: 1951-07-31
category: Organized Crime
created: 2026-06-20
location: New York, New York
summary: Co-founder of Apollo Global Management who paid Jeffrey Epstein about 158
  million dollars between 2012 and 2017 for tax and estate-planning structures that
  a Senate investigation said helped avoid more than a billion dollars in gift and
  estate taxes, and who resigned from Apollo in 2021 over the relationship.
tags:
- Person
- LeonBlack
- JeffreyEpstein
- Apollo
- PrivateEquity
- TaxAvoidance
- DarkMoney
- Finance
updated: 2026-06-20
---

Leon Black (born July 31, 1951) is an American private-equity financier who co-founded [Apollo Global Management](/organizations/apollo-global-management/) in 1990 and ran it until 2021. He paid [Jeffrey Epstein](/people/jeffrey-epstein/) approximately 158 million dollars between 2012 and 2017 for tax, trust, and estate-planning advice, a sum an independent review and a U.S. Senate investigation found far exceeded any plausible market rate for the work, and which was tied to structures that the Senate Finance Committee said helped Black avoid more than one billion dollars in federal gift and estate taxes. The relationship forced Black's resignation as Apollo's chief executive and chairman in 2021, drew a four-year Senate investigation, and ran alongside a 62.5 million dollar payment to end a Virgin Islands inquiry and separate, denied sexual-assault allegations.[^1][^2][^3]

### Drexel and the Founding of Apollo

Black is the son of Eli Black, the chief executive of the food conglomerate United Brands (later [Chiquita](/organizations/united-fruit-company/)), who died by suicide in 1975 during the "Bananagate" foreign-bribery scandal in which United Brands was found to have paid bribes to officials in Honduras. Leon Black earned a degree from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Harvard Business School, and joined the investment bank Drexel Burnham Lambert, where he became head of mergers and acquisitions and worked closely with the junk-bond financier [Michael Milken](/people/michael-milken/). Drexel collapsed into bankruptcy in 1990 after the federal securities-fraud case against Milken and the firm.[^4]

Out of Drexel's wreckage, Black co-founded Apollo in 1990 with the former Drexel colleagues Josh Harris and Marc Rowan (the early partnership also included Tony Ressler, who later founded Ares Management). Apollo built its early returns on distressed debt and leveraged buyouts and grew into one of the largest alternative-asset managers in the world, with hundreds of billions of dollars under management across private equity, credit, and the annuities insurer Athene, and a 2011 listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Black served as chairman and chief executive and became one of the wealthiest people in American finance, as well as a prominent art collector and the chairman of the Museum of Modern Art.[^4]

### The Epstein Payments

Black retained Epstein for financial advice beginning around 2012, several years after Epstein's 2008 Florida sex-offender conviction. Between 2012 and 2017 Black paid Epstein about 158 million dollars in a series of installments; the Senate Finance Committee later described the figure as roughly 170 million dollars over the five-year period when related items were included. Epstein was neither a licensed tax attorney nor a certified public accountant, and the rates Black paid him were, in the Senate committee's account, about thirty times what Black paid the elite tax and estate advisers he already employed.[^1][^2][^3]

Black has said the payments were for advice on trust and estate planning, tax matters, and the operation of his family office. The central transaction concerned a Grantor Retained Annuity Trust (GRAT) that Black had established in 2006; Epstein devised a structure that, according to the review commissioned by Apollo, helped resolve a potential tax liability and keep wealth out of Black's taxable estate as he transferred as much as two billion dollars to his children. The size and structure of the payments, and the question of what a convicted sex offender with no professional tax credentials actually provided, became the subject of the Apollo review and the Senate investigation.[^1][^2]

### The Dechert Report and the Tax Structures

Facing investor and press scrutiny over the Epstein relationship, Apollo's board commissioned an independent review by the law firm Dechert LLP, which the firm released on January 25, 2021. The Dechert review documented the 158 million dollars in payments, concluded that the fees were for legitimate tax and estate-planning work even though they were far larger than the value of that work, and reported that it had found no evidence that Black was involved in Epstein's sex-trafficking crimes or was aware of them. Black also extended Epstein loans, some of which were repaid.[^1][^5]

The review nonetheless described arrangements that drew lasting questions. It reported that a transaction Epstein devised to help Black avoid more than one billion dollars in federal taxes raised the question of whether Black had improperly kept billions of dollars out of his taxable estate and might owe substantial gift and estate taxes. The review also recorded that the payments were "inexplicably large," well in excess of what Black paid any other adviser and far above the median pay of a Fortune 500 chief executive at the time. Apollo's board accepted the review's findings while announcing governance changes and the leadership transition.[^1][^5]

### The Senate Finance Investigation

The Senate Finance Committee, under Ranking Member Ron Wyden, opened an investigation into Black's tax planning and his financial ties to Epstein, publicly confirming it in July 2023 and pursuing it across roughly four years. The committee examined whether the payments to Epstein were part of a strategy to avoid more than one billion dollars in federal gift and estate taxes through the 2006 GRAT and related trusts, and sought records from Apollo, from Black, and from financial institutions including Bank of America that processed the payments.[^2][^3]

In July 2025 Wyden said Epstein's work for Black deserved an Internal Revenue Service probe, and in 2026 the committee escalated. In March 2026 Wyden questioned Black over new material in the Epstein file releases that he said showed the appearance of "hush money" payments and the surveillance of women, and on June 4, 2026 the committee referred its findings on Black's Epstein ties to the House Oversight Committee. Wyden, with Senator Angus King, also introduced legislation in April 2026 to close the high-value-trust tax loophole the GRAT structure exploited. Black has denied wrongdoing and said his tax planning was lawful.[^2][^6]

### The Departure from Apollo

On January 25, 2021, the same day the Dechert review was released, Apollo announced that Black would retire as chief executive on or before July 31, 2021, with Marc Rowan succeeding him, while Black remained chairman. On March 22, 2021, Black left abruptly, relinquishing the chairmanship as well and citing health issues affecting him and his wife, and Rowan assumed the role of chief executive. The departure came months earlier than the announced timeline and amid the emerging sexual-assault allegations against Black.[^7]

Black publicly blamed his co-founder Josh Harris for what he characterized as a campaign to force him out, and the two men's dispute became an open feud reported across the financial press. Black filed a lawsuit alleging a racketeering conspiracy among Harris, Guzel Ganieva, and others; a federal judge, Paul Engelmayer, dismissed that suit with prejudice in 2022, calling the racketeering claims "glaringly deficient in fundamental respects." Rowan consolidated control of Apollo, which in 2026 faced shareholder securities-fraud suits alleging it had concealed the extent of Black's Epstein ties from investors.[^7][^8]

### The Ganieva and Assault Allegations

In 2021 Guzel Ganieva, a Russian former model, publicly accused Black of years of sexual abuse, and after Black responded that the two had had a consensual affair and that she had tried to extort him, she sued him in June 2021 alleging sexual assault, including a rape she said occurred in 2014, and defamation. Black denied the allegations. A New York appeals court later ruled for Black on the defamation claim, finding that a 2015 non-disclosure agreement, under which Ganieva had received about nine million dollars including a 100,000-dollar monthly stipend, covered her claims, and that she had ratified the agreement by accepting the money.[^8][^9]

A separate federal lawsuit filed in July 2023 alleged that Black had raped a then-16-year-old girl with autism at Epstein's Manhattan townhouse in 2002. Black's lawyer, Susan Estrich, said Black had never met the accuser and called the suit a fabrication by the Wigdor law firm. The plaintiff, identified by the pseudonym Jane Doe and later reported to be Cheri Pierson, dropped the suit with prejudice in February 2024. Black has denied every allegation of sexual misconduct.[^10]

### The Virgin Islands Settlement

In January 2023 Black paid 62.5 million dollars to the Government of the United States Virgin Islands to end the territory's investigation into his ties to Epstein, without any admission of liability or any criminal charge. The payment came as the territory was pursuing the Epstein estate and the banks that served Epstein, and shortly after the estate's own 105 million dollar settlement and the territory's suits against [JPMorgan Chase](/organizations/jpmorgan-chase/) and [Deutsche Bank](/organizations/deutsche-bank/).[^11]

The Black settlement was the largest individual payment connected to the Virgin Islands inquiry, exceeding the sums paid by the banks to the territory, and was reported as resolving the territory's potential claims against Black arising from his financial dealings with Epstein. Black continued to manage his personal fortune and his art holdings after leaving Apollo, while the Senate referral and the prospect of an IRS examination of the GRAT structures remained open in 2026.[^11][^2]

[^1]: "Leon Black's $158 Million Sent to Epstein Draws Senate Probe." *Bloomberg,* July 25, 2023. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-07-25/leon-black-s-158-million-payments-to-epstein-spark-senate-probe ; "Billionaire Leon Black made a $158 million payment to Jeffrey Epstein. Senators want to know why." *CNN Business,* July 25, 2023. https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/25/business/leon-black-jeffrey-epstein-senate-investigation
[^2]: U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, "Wyden Unveils Ongoing Investigation into Private Equity Billionaire Leon Black's Tax Planning and Financial Ties with Jeffrey Epstein," July 25, 2023. https://www.finance.senate.gov/chairmans-news/wyden-unveils-ongoing-investigation-into-private-equity-billionaire-leon-blacks-tax-planning-and-financial-ties-with-jeffrey-epstein
[^3]: "Sen. Ron Wyden wants to know why Leon Black paid Epstein $170 million for tax planning over 5-year period." *CBS News,* 2023. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sen-ron-wyden-leon-black-paid-epstein-170-million-tax-planning/
[^4]: For Black's career, the United Brands background, Drexel Burnham Lambert and Michael Milken, and the 1990 founding of Apollo, see the contemporaneous business press and the Apollo corporate record.
[^5]: "Apollo Announces Review of Significant Governance Enhancements as Part of Continued Evolution and Institutionalization of the Firm and Leadership Transition." *Apollo Global Management,* January 25, 2021. https://www.apollo.com/insights-news/pressreleases/2021/01/apollo-announces-review-of-significant-governance-enhancements-as-part-of-continued-evolution-and-institutionalization-of-the-firm-and-leadership-transition-211534651
[^6]: U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, "Wyden Refers Findings on Leon Black's Epstein Ties to House Oversight Committee," June 4, 2026. https://www.finance.senate.gov/ranking-members-news/wyden-refers-findings-on-leon-blacks-epstein-ties-to-house-oversight-committee ; "Epstein's Work for Leon Black Deserves IRS Probe, Wyden Says." *Bloomberg,* July 31, 2025. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-07-31/epstein-s-work-for-leon-black-should-face-irs-probe-wyden-says
[^7]: "Leon Black quits Apollo months earlier than expected following Jeffrey Epstein investment scandal." *CNBC,* March 22, 2021. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/22/apollo-ceo-leon-black-leaves-follows-jeffrey-epstein-investment-scandal.html ; "Marc Rowan Assumes Role of CEO of Apollo." *Apollo Global Management / GlobeNewswire,* March 22, 2021.
[^8]: "Leon Black's Lawsuit Against Josh Harris, Guzel Ganieva Dismissed by Judge." *Bloomberg,* June 30, 2022. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-30/leon-black-suit-against-josh-harris-guzel-ganieva-thrown-out
[^9]: "Woman's lawsuit accuses Leon Black of defamation, violent behavior." *CNBC,* June 2, 2021. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/02/womans-lawsuit-accuses-leon-black-of-defamation-violent-behavior.html ; Ganieva v. Black, New York Appellate Division, First Department (2025).
[^10]: "Lawsuit accuses billionaire Leon Black of raping autistic teenager at Jeffrey Epstein's townhouse." *CNBC,* July 25, 2023. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/25/leon-black-accused-of-raping-teenager-at-jeffrey-epstein-townhouse.html ; "Woman drops lawsuit against Leon Black alleging rape at Jeffrey Epstein mansion." *CNBC,* February 20, 2024. https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/20/woman-drops-claim-of-leon-black-rape-at-jeffrey-epstein-mansion.html
[^11]: "Billionaire Leon Black paid $62.5m to exit US Virgin Islands investigation over links to Jeffrey Epstein." *AOL / Agence France-Presse,* 2023. https://www.aol.com/billionaire-leon-black-paid-62-002414707.html