Leon Black,
the billionaire co-founder of
Apollo Global Management Inc.,
is stepping down as chairman of the investment giant in an unexpected move that is the latest in a governance overhaul kicked off by revelations of his ties to disgraced financier
Jeffrey Epstein.
Apollo said Monday that co-founder
Marc Rowan
had formally assumed the title of chief executive officer from Mr. Black, a transition the New York firm announced in January and said would take place before July 31, Mr. Black’s 70th birthday. Mr. Black, who the firm had previously said would be staying on as chairman, is ceding that role to former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman
Jay Clayton,
who was named lead independent director last month.
Mr. Black cited health issues of himself and his wife in announcing the move.
The move is the latest in a series of changes at the firm since the conclusion of an independent review into ties between Mr. Black and Epstein. The review by law firm Dechert LLP revealed that Mr. Black paid Epstein a total of $158 million for tax- and estate-planning services, far more than was previously known.
The review found no evidence that Mr. Black was involved in the criminal activities of Epstein, who was indicted in 2019 on federal sex-trafficking charges involving underage girls and later killed himself in jail.
In a statement Monday, Mr. Black said the firm’s first-quarter earnings would exceed analyst expectations and that fundraising was set to come in at the high end of Apollo’s $15 billion to $20 billion annual forecast.
“I thus view this as the ideal moment to step back and focus on my family, my wife Debra’s and my health issues, and my many other interests,” he said.
Debra Black
was diagnosed with stage two melanoma more than a decade ago, and the couple has given hundreds of millions of dollars to fund research into the disease through a foundation they established in 2007. She has continued to struggle with the disease in recent months, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Mr. Black, meanwhile, has been battling his own health issues for the past several weeks, the person said.
Apollo has added a number of independent directors since the conclusion of the Dechert review, in addition to Mr. Clayton. On Monday, it added two more, naming
Richard Emerson,
president of Pendral Capital, and
Kerry Murphy Healey,
president of the Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream, effective immediately.
The firm also announced earlier this month that it would abandon its dual-class share structure and move to a “one-share, one vote” regime.
Mr. Rowan, 58 years old and the architect of Apollo’s highly successful insurance strategy, has already moved to put his stamp on the firm, announcing a merger with
Athene Holding Ltd.
earlier this month that valued the Apollo insurance affiliate at $11 billion.
Apollo already owns a large chunk of Athene and the insurer represents a big portion of its $455 billion in assets under management. The companies said the deal was aimed at simplifying the relationship and better aligning the interests of both sets of shareholders.
Write to Miriam Gottfried at Miriam.Gottfried@wsj.com
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