Who Is Leon Black?
The so-called "little black book" of disgraced New York financier Jeffrey Epstein implicated a number of high-profile men in the sex offender's crimes, from former U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump to Britain's Prince Andrew and the lawyer Alan Dershowitz, among others (per The New York Times). In 2019, Epstein died by suicide while in jail awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges involving a number of young women and girls.
Another less well-known name that reportedly also showed up in Epstein's book was Leon Black (pictured), the wealthy co-founder of the private equity firm Apollo Global Management Inc. (via EpsteinsBlackBook.com). Though Black's mention in Epstein's book does not prove or disprove whether or not he was involved in the sex abuse and trafficking charges against Epstein, in late November 2022, a lawsuit was brought against Black by a woman alleging that he raped her two decades prior at Epstein's Manhattan address.
This was the second time similar accusations were brought against Black, based on Reuters reporting. One year earlier, another lawsuit accused Black of defamation and sexual violence, as Reuters elsewhere notes.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
Black co-founded Apollo Global Management Inc. in 1990
According to the company's website, Apollo Global Management Inc was co-founded by Leon Black in 1990. He otherwise began his career in investment banking, as Forbes explains. Black's early work was conducted as head of mergers and acquisitions for the investment banking firm Drexel Burnham Lambert. In 1990, Drexel Burnham Lambert filed for bankruptcy, and Black left to start Apollo Global Management Inc. with three partners, all of whom were also successful billionaires working in New York high finance. As of the 2022 Forbes report, Apollo Global Management oversaw $500 billion in assets.
Apollo went public in 2011, a decade before the first sex crimes-related lawsuit was filed against Black in 2021, and per Forbes report, Black still owns 23% of the company. The 2021 lawsuit brought against Black alleged defamation and sexual violence lasting years, according to Reuters. In response, a Black spokesperson released a statement (via Reuters) "Mr. Black emphatically denies each and every spurious allegation put forth in this lawsuit and looks forward to disproving them in court."
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
He stepped down from the Apollo board over links to Epstein
Also in 2021, Leon Black stepped down from his position as CEO and chairman of Apollo after the board learned of $158 million in fees paid by Black to Epstein, as Forbes explains. Based on reporting from The Telegraph, those "larger-than-expected" payments were made to Epstein for estate tax planning, trust, and wealth management purposes. The initial report of the total payments made by Black to Epstein was $50 million, as The New York Times writes. According to CNBC, Black cited his and his wife's health issues for his decision to leave his position earlier than intended.
As CNBC goes on to note, the payments from Black to Epstein were made from 2012 through 2017. In 2008, Epstein pled guilty to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl in Florida. On the decision to associate with Epstein even after that guilty plea, Black said (via CNBC), "Knowing all that I have learned in the past two years about Epstein's reprehensible and despicable conduct, I deeply regret having had any involvement with him. With the benefit of hindsight, working with him was a horrible mistake on my part." At that time, Black pledged $200 million to, among other services, initiatives for survivors of sexual assault and sex trafficking.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
Black and Epstein moved in similar New York circles
As The New York Times also reports, there were several instances of Leon Black and Jeffrey Epstein socializing together in Manhattan, and Black is known to have visited Epstein's Manhattan mansion on a number of occasions. He is also known to have traveled by yacht to Epstein's private residence in the U.S. Virgin Islands where, among other locations, instances of Epstein's sex abuse and sex trafficking reportedly took place, according to BBC News. (Black faces no charges related to his time spent on Epstein's island property.) Both Epstein and Black also invested together in an emissions-control company called Environmental Solutions Worldwide.
After Epstein's 2008 Florida guilty plea, Harvard stopped accepting donations from Epstein, and Epstein's business, Financial Trust, suffered (per The New York Times). Evidence suggests that Black helped facilitate donations between Epstein and Harvard and that some of those larger-than-expected payments paid from Black to Epstein could have helped sustain the accused sex trafficker's Southern Trust Company. Notably, once Black said he no longer maintained any association with Epstein in 2018 and ceased payments to the financier, Southern Trust reported no income.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
His accuser said Epstein introduced them
As Reuters goes on to explain, Cheri Pierson, who brought charges against Leon Black in 2022, claimed she was introduced to the billionaire via Jeffrey Epstein. A single mother, Epstein reportedly told her that Black could offer her financial help. She alleges that the sexual assault took place in 2002 on an upper floor of Epstein's Manhattan home. Susan Estrich (pictured), a lawyer for Black, called Pierson's allegations categorically false and part of a scheme to "extort money from Mr. Black by threatening to destroy his reputation" (via Reuters).
According to Pierson, Black physically overwhelmed her, and their encounter in Epstein's home was described as excruciatingly painful. Epstein's estate is also named in Pierson's suit for negligence. The suit comes as New York state has extended the statute of limitations on rape cases through the recently passed Adult Survivor's Act, according to CNN. In response to Pierson's suit, Black's lawyer, Estrich, said her client may counter-sue for defamation. "Mr. Black never sexually assaulted anyone anywhere at any time," Black's attorney added (via Reuters).
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
Black allegedly assaulted other young women and girls
In Cheri Pierson's lawsuit, it states that the violent sexual assault took place in a meeting pre-arranged by Jeffrey Epstein in which she would purportedly give Leon Black a massage for money. "Black had the opportunity and the means to rape Ms. Pierson that day," the lawsuit also said, and it went on to characterize Epstein as Black's close friend and confidant (via NBC News). The suit then goes on to describe the physical nature of Black's alleged attack in graphic detail.
As The Daily Beast goes on to explain, Pierson's suit claims that other girls were involved with Black. They were allegedly groomed by Epstein and then traded to Black, among other men, once the girls aged passed a point Epstein was interested. Pierson's suit read (via The Daily Beast), "Black, thereafter, became involved sexually with these women, at least several of whom had been with Epstein for years while underage. There can be no doubt that Black knew about their prior involvements with Epstein, indeed, that is how they were introduced to Black." According to Pierson, she first met Epstein and subsequently Black through the late financier's one-time girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell (pictured). Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence in New York for sex trafficking, according to BBC News.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).