Leon David Black (born July 31, 1951) is an American

investor An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some species of property. Type ...

and the co-founder and former-CEO of the private equity firm

Apollo Global Management Apollo Global Management, Inc. is an American global private-equity firm. It provides investment management and invests in credit, private equity, and real assets. As of March 31, 2022, the company had $512 billion of assets under management, ...

. Black also served as the chairman of

The Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of th ...

(MoMA) in New York City from July 2018 until July 2021. Black stepped down as CEO and chairman of Apollo Global Management in 2021, after revelations that he paid the disgraced businessman and convicted sex offender

Jeffrey Epstein Jeffrey Edward Epstein ( ; January 20, 1953August 10, 2019) was an American sex offender and financier. Epstein, who was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, began his professional life by teaching at the Dalton School in Manhattan, des ...

$158 million for

family office A family office is a privately held company that handles investment management and wealth management for a wealthy family, generally one with at least $50-$100 million in investable assets, with the goal being to effectively grow and transfe ...

tax-related advice over the period from 2012 to 2017.

Early life and education

Black is a son of

Eli M. Black Eli M. Black (April 9, 1921 – February 3, 1975) was an American businessman. He controlled the United Brands Company. His son Leon Black is a founding member of private equity firm Apollo Management. Early life and education Born Elihu Menashe ...

(1921–1975), a prominent Jewish businessman who emigrated from Poland and was best known for owning the

United Brands Company Chiquita Brands International Sàrl (), formerly known as Chiquita Brands International Inc. and United Fruit Co., is a Swiss-domiciled American producer and distributor of bananas and other produce. The company operates under a number of su ...

. His mother, Shirley Lubell (sister of Tulsa oil executive Benedict I. Lubell) was an artist. In 1975, his father died by suicide, jumping out of the 44th floor of the Pan Am Building in New York City. It was later made public that, at the time, federal regulators were investigating allegations that United Brands was bribing Honduran government officials.St. Petersburg Times: "Violent Death Contradicted Executives' Quiet Life" by Peter T. Kilbourne
February 19, 1975. Black received an AB in

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...

and history from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

in 1973 and a MBA from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

in 1975. He served on the Board of Trustees of Dartmouth College from 2002 to 2011. In 2012, Black gave US$48 million toward a new visual arts center at Dartmouth College.

Career

Black started out as an accountant at Peat Marwick (which later became

KPMG KPMG International Limited (or simply KPMG) is a multinational professional services network, and one of the Big Four accounting organizations. Headquartered in Amstelveen, Netherlands, although incorporated in London, England, KPMG is a net ...

) and with the publisher of Boardroom Reports. He also interviewed at Lehman Brothers but was told that he didn't have the brains or personality to succeed on Wall Street. From 1977 to 1990, Black was employed by

investment bank Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort. In finance, the purpose of investing i ...

Drexel Burnham Lambert Drexel Burnham Lambert was an American multinational investment bank that was forced into bankruptcy in 1990 due to its involvement in illegal activities in the junk bond market, driven by senior executive Michael Milken. At its height, it was ...

, where he served as managing director, head of the

Mergers & Acquisitions Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspec ...

Group, and co-head of the

Corporate Finance Corporate finance is the area of finance that deals with the sources of funding, the capital structure of corporations, the actions that managers take to increase the value of the firm to the shareholders, and the tools and analysis used to all ...

Department. Black was regarded as "junk bond king"

Michael Milken Michael Robert Milken (born July 4, 1946) is an American financier. He is known for his role in the development of the market for high-yield bonds ("junk bonds"), and his conviction and sentence following a guilty plea on felony charges for vio ...

's right-hand man at Drexel. In 1990, he co-founded, on the heels of the collapse of

, the private equity firm

. Notable founders included: John Hannan, Drexel's former co-director of international finance; Craig Cogut, a lawyer who worked with Drexel's high-yield division in Los Angeles; Arthur Bilger, the former head of the Drexel's corporate finance department; Antony Ressler, who worked as a senior vice president in Drexel's high yield department with responsibility for the new issue/syndicate desk; and Marc Rowan, Josh Harris and Michael Gross, who all worked under Black in the mergers and acquisitions department.Ex-Drexel Executives Arrange Aid for Fruit of the Loom
August 24, 1990. Black stepped down as CEO of Apollo in 2021 due to his ties to convicted sex offender

. He remained chairman for several months but stepped down abruptly in March 2021.

Personal life

Black is married to Debra Ressler, a 1976

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

graduate and Broadway producer and sister of Ares Management co-founder Antony Ressler. They have four children. One of their children, Ben, runs an investment fund. Black's wife is a

melanoma Melanoma, also redundantly known as malignant melanoma, is a type of skin cancer that develops from the pigment-producing cells known as melanocytes. Melanomas typically occur in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye ( ...

survivor. In 2007, the couple donated $25 million to form the new Melanoma Research Alliance. Leon and Debra both serve on the board of the organization. In 2018, he was elected as the chairman of

(MoMA) in New York City. His term commenced on July 1, 2018. His term as chairman ended on July 1, 2021, and he did not seek re-election.

Epstein relationship

Black has claimed that he maintained a "limited relationship" with

. In 1997, he made Epstein one of the original trustees of what is today the Debra and Leon Black Foundation. In his 2020 letter to Apollo investors, Black said that Epstein provided him with "estate planning, tax and philanthropic advice" to his "family partnership and other related family entities". ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' reported that Black had paid Epstein at least $50 million for such services from 2012 to 2017. While Black has not confirmed the $50 million sum reported by ''The Times'', he did say that he paid Epstein "millions of dollars annually for his work". In October 2020, Black requested that the Apollo board conduct an independent review of his relationship with Epstein, and it retained the law firm Dechert LLP to do so. Black has said that he "deeply regrets" his relationship with Epstein. The review conducted by Dechert LLP was released on January 25, 2021. It showed that Black had paid Epstein around $158 million from 2012 through 2017 for financial services. Using Epstein's tax avoidance strategies, Black saved at least $1.3 billion. Black pledged his intention to donate $200 million to women’s initiatives.

Affair and related accusations

In 2021, Black admitted to having what he called a "consensual affair" with Guzel Ganieva, a former model. She claimed in a series of March 2021 tweets that "I was sexually harassed and abused by him for years nd ultimatelyforced to sign a non-disclosure agreement under duress". The matter has resulted in lawsuits and countersuits. The law firm representing Ganieva also represents another accuser, and Black has denied all of these legal claims.

Book publisher

In 2012, Black acquired

Phaidon Press Phaidon Press is a global publisher of books on art, architecture, design, fashion, photography, and popular culture, as well as cookbooks, children's books, and travel books. The company is based in London and New York City, with additional o ...

, a fine art books publishing house.

Art collection

Two months after the May 2012 anonymous purchase of one of four versions of

Edvard Munch Edvard Munch ( , ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His best known work, '' The Scream'' (1893), has become one of Western art's most iconic images. His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the d ...

's ''

The Scream ''The Scream'' is a composition created by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch in 1893. The agonized face in the painting has become one of the most iconic images of art, seen as symbolizing the anxiety of the human condition. Munch's work, including ...

'', ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' reported that Black had been the one who had paid $119.9 million for the pastel, the highest price ever paid for a work of art at auction as of that time. In September 2012, The

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of t ...

announced the painting would go on view for a six-month period starting in October. In June 2013, it was revealed that Leon Black had purchased ''Head of a Young Apostle'', an work by

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual ...

for £29 million after a four-party bidding war. On December 22, 2015, it was reported that Leon Black purchased at auction a complete set of the

Daniel Bomberg Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...

Babylonian

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...

for $9.3 million. According to a press release from the

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

auction house, the sale is "a new world auction record for any piece of Judaica." In June 2016, a lawsuit over the

Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

sculpture '' Bust of a Woman (Marie-Thérèse)'' between the advisory firm Pelham Europe and art gallery owner

Larry Gagosian Lawrence Gilbert "Larry" Gagosian (born April 19, 1945) is an American art dealer who owns the Gagosian Gallery chain of art galleries. Working in concert with collectors including Douglas S. Cramer, Eli Broad, and Keith Barish, he developed a ...

was settled. Pelham Europe, an agent for a member of Qatar's royal family, and Gagosian, who had resold the bust to Leon Black, both claimed ownership. The case was settled by Maya Widmaier-Picasso, the owner of the sculpture. The settlement included Leon Black getting the sculpture and Widmaier Picasso paying Pelham an undisclosed amount.

References

;General
Deal Maker's 3-Day Tally: $37 Billion
(New York Times, 2006)
Billionaire Leon Black a tough negiotiator

Rumor: Leon Black to take Apollo public
(New York Times, 2004)

External links

Profile
at Forbes.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Leon 1951 births Living people 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople Apollo Global Management people American billionaires American chief executives of financial services companies American financiers American investment bankers American money managers American people of Polish-Jewish descent Dartmouth College alumni Drexel Burnham Lambert Harvard Business School alumni Jewish American art collectors Jewish American philanthropists Private equity and venture capital investors Jeffrey Epstein