Leon Black, the billionaire former CEO of Apollo Global Management, is scheduled to appear Friday morning before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform in a closed-door session to answer questions about his decades-long relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The committee said it expects to release a transcript of the deposition later, as it has done with previous interviews in its ongoing investigation.
Black has faced years of scrutiny over his ties to Epstein, which intensified after the Justice Department released millions of records related to Epstein late last year and earlier this year. In 2021, Black stepped down as chairman and chief executive of Apollo Global Management amid questions about the association.
According to a report commissioned by Apollo and conducted by the law firm Dechert LLP, Black maintained a social relationship with Epstein from the mid-1990s until 2018. The report said Black retained Epstein to provide advising services to him and his family office on trust and estate planning, taxes, and philanthropy. After Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to Florida state prostitution charges — including procuring a minor — Black became Epstein’s largest client, paying him roughly $170 million in fees, according to an investigation by the Senate Finance Committee. Black has described the payments as compensation for tax and estate-planning services.
The Dechert report, which reviewed more than 60,000 documents and interviewed more than 20 witnesses, said it found “no evidence that Black or any employee of the Family Office or Apollo was involved in any way with Epstein’s criminal activities at any time.” It also said there was “no evidence that Epstein ever introduced Black, or offered to introduce Black, to any underage woman.” However, the report acknowledged that Black and others at Apollo were aware that Epstein had been convicted in 2008.
Among the documents released by the Justice Department was a presentation titled “PROMINENT NAMES,” which included Black. The document listed allegations against Black, including a claim that “Epstein told [name redacted] to give Black a massage while Black was naked” and that “another female gave Black a massage and he made her perform oral sex.” Black has denied the allegations and any wrongdoing. The document was part of the FBI’s investigation into Epstein, though it does not indicate that investigators verified any of the allegations referenced within it against the named men.
Three women have sued Black for alleged sexual abuse. One suit has been dismissed, one was withdrawn, and one remains pending. Lawyers for Black said in a statement that the misconduct allegations were false and that “subsequent events have established with certainty that Mr Black’s account was truthful, and his accusers’ claims were not.” No charges have been brought against Black.
Separately, the U.S. Virgin Islands conducted a civil investigation into Black’s ties to Epstein and several women. Black agreed to pay $62.5 million to the territory in a settlement. The agreement stated that its “terms shall not be cited by any person as evidence of wrongdoing by Black.”
The New York Times reported this year that, according to the released Justice Department records, Epstein introduced Black to women on several occasions and counseled Black on paying millions of dollars to several women while suggesting ways to obscure the payments. A spokesman for Black declined to comment on the payments to the Times. Black’s lawyers told the newspaper that the Justice Department documents “make clear that Mr Epstein embellished, exaggerated and lied about Mr Black” and said that Black was not aware of Epstein’s sex trafficking.
Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, wrote to the House Oversight Committee ahead of Black’s testimony, saying that Justice Department records suggested Epstein may have served as a “fixer” regarding women who were paid tens of millions of dollars in exchange for their silence, and accused Black of using Epstein to conceal such payments. Black’s representatives rejected Wyden’s claims as “outrageous and false,” saying the senator’s accusations served “his own selfish political interests.” In a March statement, a spokesman for Black said: “Mr Black paid Epstein for tax and estate planning work and he had no awareness of Epstein’s criminal activity. He looks forward to answering the committee’s questions, providing additional clarity and furthering their work.”
The committee has questioned a series of high-profile individuals in recent months, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Ohio billionaire Les Wexner, former Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, as part of a broad probe into Epstein’s network.