# Leon Black Co-founder of **[[Apollo Global Management]]** (1990) and one of the largest fortunes in American private equity — net worth reported around $15.9 billion, with roughly 14% of Apollo retained. Father of **[[Benjamin Black]]**, CEO of the [[Development Finance Corporation]] since October 2025. Black stepped down as Apollo's CEO in 2021 following an independent review of his financial relationship with **[[Jeffrey Epstein]]**, to whom he had paid a very large sum for tax and estate-planning advice. The review found no evidence Black was involved in Epstein's criminal conduct; the scale of the payments nonetheless ended his tenure. The 2026 [[Ron Wyden]] report separately found that [[Bank of America]] reported roughly $170 million in Epstein-related transactions connected to Black five to seven years after they occurred — a finding about the **bank's** reporting, not about Black's conduct. > [!note] Stub — fill out > This page was created during the sovereign-wealth cluster build on 2026-08-11 to resolve a link from [[Benjamin Black]]. To expand: Apollo's founding out of Drexel Burnham's collapse and the Milken connection; the firm's role in private credit and distressed debt; the Dechert review and the exact payment figures; the MoMA chairmanship and art-world philanthropy; the subsequent litigation. Verify all figures before relying on them. ## See also [[Apollo Global Management]] · [[Benjamin Black]] · [[Jeffrey Epstein]]