Black will retire in late July and will be succeeded by Marc Rowan, one of the founders of the private equity firm, as CEO. Black will remain as president of the company, Apollo said.
Black said in his continued role as president that he hopes to “focus on strategic planning, growth initiatives, investment opportunities and supporting Apollo, which has been my life’s work, in every way I can.”
In a separate ad, Apollo said it found no evidence of irregularities in Black’s previous relationship with Epstein, a sex trafficking accused who hanged himself in prison in 2019.
“The report’s conclusions are consistent with the statements made by Black and Apollo about the previous relationship,” he told Apollo in a statement.
The investigation conducted by the law firm Dechert LLP, which says it involves reviewing more than 60,000 documents and interviewing more than 20 people, found that Black’s payments to Epstein totaled $ 158 million from 2012 to 2017. It also found that Apollo he never did business with Epstein and he never invested in funds managed by Apollo.
Black’s last payment to Epstein was made in April 2017; in 2018, Epstein repaid a portion of two loans that were pending for Black, but never repaid the rest, the report said. “Black and Epstein interrupted communications around the fall of 2018, before renewed public disclosures of Epstein’s conduct and Epstein’s arrest and suicide.”
“With the benefit of a retrospective – and knowing everything that came to light about Epstein’s despicable conduct over fifteen years ago – I deeply regret having had any involvement with him,” Black said in the letter.
Black said his relationship involved only professional services that included “estate planning, taxes and philanthropic ventures”, as well as occasional meetings at Epstein’s home to conduct business. As he says, Epstein did not have a separate office.
In a letter to investors on Monday, Black said he promised $ 200 million for initiatives that help survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking – a way to “start dealing with the grave error” of having maintained a professional relationship with Epstein.