Leon Black is the co-founder and former chairman and chief executive of Apollo Global Management. He is in this register as a documented FUNDER of Jeffrey Epstein: between 2012 and 2017 he paid Epstein roughly $158 million for what were characterized as tax, estate-planning and family-office advisory services (the figure from Apollo's 2021 independent review and Senator Wyden's 2023 investigation); the August 2026 Senate Finance Committee report puts the total flow at roughly $170 million, a difference this register does not attempt to reconcile. Both figures are far larger than Black is reported to have paid any other adviser.

THE ARRANGEMENT: Senator Wyden's investigation (Senate Finance Committee, announced 2023-07-25) centered on 2006 Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs) and a remainder trust that Epstein is alleged to have devised for Black; the committee states Epstein's tax strategies saved Black more than $1 billion in federal taxes and around $600 million in future gift and estate taxes. The committee characterized the fees Black paid Epstein as, in its words, inexplicably large. ALLEGATIONS and characterizations by a congressional committee, not adjudicated findings.

WHERE THE MONEY WENT: per the 2026 Senate Finance report, Black's payments moved by wire from his Bank of America accounts to Epstein entities, with roughly $140 million attributed to Southern Trust Company, Inc. (which banked at Deutsche Bank) and the JPMorgan-side entity Financial Trust Company Inc. also named in the structure. Bank of America filed suspicious-activity reports on the transfers only in 2020 - after Epstein's arrest and death - flagging about $156 million as having no verifiable business purpose.

APOLLO FALLOUT: Apollo's board commissioned an independent review by the law firm Dechert LLP, which reported on 2021-01-25 after reviewing more than 60,000 documents; it found no evidence that Black was involved in Epstein's crimes and concluded the fees were for bona fide services, while noting the amounts were extraordinarily large. Black announced he would step down as CEO and subsequently left the Apollo chairmanship in 2021.

USVI SETTLEMENT: on 2023-01-20 Black paid $62.5 million to the U.S. Virgin Islands to resolve the territory's investigation into his dealings with Epstein; the settlement statement said Epstein used the money Black paid him to partially fund his operations in the Virgin Islands.

BLACK'S POSITION: Black has consistently denied any wrongdoing, has never been charged with a crime, and maintains the payments were legitimate fees for sophisticated tax and estate-planning advice that saved him far more than it cost. The 2021 Dechert review cleared him of involvement in Epstein's criminal conduct. Per public reporting (PBS, 2025-2026), he has also resisted congressional efforts to compel his testimony about the Epstein relationship.

SCOPE NOTE: this entry addresses Black's documented FINANCIAL relationship with Epstein only - the register's lane. It records no other, unrelated allegations against him. Primary and authoritative sources: Apollo / Dechert independent review (2021-01-25); Senate Finance Committee (Wyden) investigation announcement (2023-07-25) and report 'Looking the Other Way' (2026-08-04, wyden_wall_street_epstein_report.pdf); USVI-Black settlement (2023-01-20); contemporaneous reporting (New York Times, Bloomberg, CNBC, Forbes).