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.
Early life and education Black is a son of Eli M. Black (1921–1975), a Jewish businessman who emigrated from Poland as a child (surname, "Blachowitz") and was the chairman and later majority owner of the United Brands Company. His mother, Shirley Lubell (sister of Tulsa oil executive Benedict I. Lubell) was an artist. In 1975, his father killed himself at age 53.St. Petersburg Times: "Violent Death Contradicted Executives' Quiet Life" by Peter T. Kilbourne February 19, 1975.
Black received an AB in philosophy and history from Dartmouth College in 1973 and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1975.
Career Black started out as an accountant at Peat Marwick (which later became KPMG) and with the publisher Boardroom Reports. He also interviewed at Lehman Brothers but was told he did not have the brains or personality to succeed on Wall Street. From 1977 to 1990, Black was employed by investment bank Drexel Burnham Lambert, where he rose to managing director and head of the Mergers and Acquisitions Group, and co-head of the Corporate Finance Department.Leon D. Black '73 from Dartmouth College At Drexel, Black was regarded as "junk bond king" Michael Milken's right-hand man.
After Drexel Burnham Lambert filed for bankruptcy in 1990, Black co-founded Apollo Global Management with Marc Rowan, Josh Harris, and Antony Ressler. Apollo specialized in leveraged buyouts and distressed securities, growing to become one of the world's largest private equity firms. The firm went public in 2011 and as of March 2026 manages approximately $1.03 trillion in assets under management. Black was CEO until January 2021, when he stepped down following the publication of the Dechert report into his financial ties to Jeffrey Epstein, and fully departed Apollo in March 2021. Since leaving Apollo, Black has managed his personal investments through his family office Elysium Management, which invests in real estate and private equity.
In 2012, Black acquired Phaidon Press, a fine art books publishing house.
Black's net worth results primarily from his retained stake in Apollo Global Management. In February 2024, he sold Apollo shares for the first time since co-founding the firm, offloading approximately $172.8 million worth of stock (roughly 2% of his holding). Documents released through the Justice Department's Epstein investigation included a detailed 2014-2015 financial summary of Black's personal balance sheet, offering an unusually in-depth view of his assets, debts, and liquidity at a time when his net worth was estimated at approximately $5 billion.
Board roles Black was on the Board of Trustees of Dartmouth College from 2002 to 2011. He is on Dartmouth's President's Leadership Council and has endowed a chair in Shakespeare Studies as well as a program in Jewish Studies.
In 2018, he was elected chairman of The Museum of Modern Art (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, in the wake of protests from dozens of artists and activists over his financial ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Leon and his wife Debra are both on the board of the Melanoma Research Alliance.
Personal life Black is married to Debra Ressler,New York Times: "Paid Notice: Deaths RESSLER, IRA RICHARD" October 29, 2000. a 1976 Barnard College graduate and Broadway producer and sister of Ares Management co-founder Antony Ressler.Bloomberg: "Leon Black Loses to Carl Icahn as Apollo Sets New Credit Terms" By Anthony Effinger & Cristina Alesci July 7, 2010. They have four children.The 400 Richest Americans #160 Leon Black (Forbes, 2006) One of their children, Benjamin, runs an investment fund and was nominated by President Donald Trump to run the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation. Debra Black is a melanoma survivor. In 2007, the couple donated $25 million to form the Melanoma Research Alliance.Wall Street Journal: "Melanoma Survivor Seeks Cure" By LAURA LANDRO May 3, 2010.
In 2012, Black gave $48 million toward a new visual arts center at Dartmouth College.
In 2016, Black listed his condominium at Miami's Faena House for sale with listing agent Oren Alexander. Black's primary home is in Manhattan and he has a beachfront compound in Southampton, New York. In 2016, he and Debra bought a Beverly Hills estate previously owned by the actor Tom Cruise for approximately $38 million; the property sold in March 2026 for approximately $47 million.
Art collection
In May 2012, Black purchased one of the four versions of Edvard Munch's The Scream. He paid $119.9 million for the pastel, then the highest price ever paid for a work of art. In September 2012, the Museum of Modern Art announced the work would be exhibited for a six-month period starting in October.
In June 2013, it was revealed that Black had purchased Head of a Young Apostle, an work by Raphael for £29 million after a four-party bidding war.
On December 22, 2015, it was reported that Black purchased at auction a complete set of the Daniel Bomberg Babylonian Talmud for $9.3 million. According to a press release from the Sotheby's auction house, the sale was "a new world auction record for any piece of Judaica."
In June 2016, a lawsuit over the Picasso sculpture Bust of a Woman (Marie-Thérèse) between the advisory firm Pelham Europe and art gallery owner Larry Gagosian was settled. Pelham Europe, an agent for a member of Qatar's royal family, and Gagosian, who had resold the bust to Black, both claimed ownership. The case was settled by Maya Widmaier-Picasso, the owner of the sculpture. The settlement included Black getting the sculpture and Widmaier Picasso paying Pelham an undisclosed amount.
Relationship with Jeffrey Epstein Black had a friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. For Epstein's 50th birthday greeting album that was compiled in 2003 by Epstein's associate Ghislaine Maxwell, Black contributed a "handwritten poem with a rhyme scheme" which included the acronym "V.F.P.C." which stood for "Vanity Fair Poster Child". This was in reference to a profile of Epstein that was being written for the magazine. The poem contained the lines "Blonde, Red or Brunette, spread out geographically/With this net of fish, Jeff’s now The Old Man and The Sea". He signed the poem "Love and kisses, Leon".
In 2009, Black contributed $60 million in a settlement with Huntsman Corporation after Apollo was sued for backing out of a merger the previous year. In 2021, Black stepped down as CEO and chairman after Dechert LLP, which had been retained several months earlier by Apollo to investigate Black's dealings with Epstein, published a report finding that Black had paid $158 million to Epstein between 2012 and 2017 for advice on taxes and estate planning. In 2022, Black included Josh Harris in a civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) lawsuit, alleging that he led a group within Apollo attempting to tarnish his reputation after his ties to Epstein were reported. Federal judge Paul Engelmayer dismissed the suit for lack of evidence, with an appeals court upholding the decision in 2023.
In 2019, Black stated that he maintained a "limited relationship" with Epstein. However, Epstein's calendar showed that between 2013 and 2017 he had more than 100 meetings with Black, typically held at Epstein's townhouse.
In 1997, Black appointed Epstein as one of the trustees of his 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 reported that Black had paid Epstein at least $50 million for such services from 2012 to 2017. Black did not at the time confirm the $50 million sum reported by The New York Times, but said 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 in taxes. Black pledged his intention to donate $200 million to women's initiatives. In 2023, Black paid $62.5 million to the U.S. Virgin Islands to be released from claims related to Epstein. In July 2023, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee made public that it was investigating Black's tax strategies and dealings with Epstein.
In July 2025, Senator Ron Wyden, who sits on the Senate Finance Committee, called on the Internal Revenue Service to investigate potential tax evasion related to Black's payments to Epstein, urging the Justice Department to subpoena Epstein-related records from Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Deutsche Bank. In March 2026, Wyden released new information establishing that Black had paid Epstein a total of $170 million (not $158 million as previously reported) after Senate investigators discovered an additional $12 million in transfers that had been missed by the earlier Apollo-commissioned Dechert review.
According to a 2026 report by the New York Times, Black had paid Epstein a total of $170 million by 2017 for what Black said were tax and estate work. According to the Times, the sum far exceeded what "elite" law or accounting firms charge for such work. The Times reported that Epstein did not just provide tax and estate work, but helped Black dispense money to women, with at least $20 million going to a dozen women, with some of whom Black had sexual relations.
In June 2026, Black appeared voluntarily for a closed-door transcribed interview before the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Black told the committee that Epstein had "duped and deceived" him and denied knowing about Epstein's sex-trafficking activities. He declined to answer broader questions concerning non-disclosure agreements involving women, and the interview ended before the committee had completed its questioning. Committee chairman James Comer subsequently issued two subpoenas, one requiring Black to produce the agreements and another compelling him to return for a deposition. The committee released the transcript of the interview on July 17. Comer has threatened to hold Black in contempt of Congress if the latter does not produce more NDAs.