Leon Black

Leon David Black (born July 31, 1951) is an American private equity investor. He is the former CEO of Apollo Global Management, which he co-founded in 1990 with Marc Rowan and Josh Harris. Black was the chairman of the Museum of Modern Art from 2018 to 2021. Black resigned from both Apollo Global Management and the Museum of Modern Art in the wake of revelations about his business ties to the New York financier and child sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein. Between 2012 and 2017, Black paid Epstein a total of $170 million for "tax and financial services" that reportedly saved him over $1 billion in taxes. After Black had a long-term affair with a Russian model, she threatened to make public allegations of sexual abuse unless he paid her $100 million. Epstein negotiated a 2015 NDA under which Black agreed to pay her $100,000 per month over 15 years, totalling $18 million. In 2020, Black said that he "deeply regrets" his relationship with Epstein. As of 2026, Black has a net worth of approximately $13.8 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, derived primarily from his retained stake in Apollo Global Management.