Leon Black, the billionaire co-founder of Apollo Global Management Inc.,
APO 2.66%
he is stepping down as chairman of the investment giant in an unexpected move, which is the latest governance review since revelations of his links to shamed financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Apollo said Monday that co-founder Marc Rowan has officially taken over as chief executive from Mr. Black, a transition the New York-based company announced in January and said would take place before July 31, Mr. Black’s 70th birthday. Mr Black, who the company previously said would remain chairman, handed over the role to former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Jay Clayton, who was appointed chief independent last month.
Mr Black quoted his and his wife’s health problems as announcing the move.
The move is the latest in a series of changes to the firm since an independent review of the relationship between Mr Black and Epstein. The analysis by the law firm Dechert LLP revealed that Mr. Black paid Epstein a total of $ 158 million for tax and real estate planning services, much 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 for federal sexual trafficking charges involving underage girls and later committed suicide in prison.
In a statement on Monday, Mr Black said the company’s earnings in the first quarter would exceed analysts’ expectations and that fundraising should come at the high end of Apollo’s $ 15 billion to $ 20 billion annual forecast.
“I consider this to be the ideal time to take a step back and focus on my family, my wife Debra and my health issues and many other interests of mine,” he said.
Debra Black was diagnosed with melanoma in the second stage more than a decade ago, and the couple donated hundreds of millions of dollars to fund research into the disease through a foundation they founded in 2007. She continued to has been battling the disease in recent months, according to a person familiar with the problem.
Meanwhile, Mr Black has been battling his own health problems for the past few weeks, he said.
Apollo has added a number of independent directors since the end of the Dechert review, in addition to Mr Clayton. On Monday, he added two more, immediately appointing Richard Emerson, president of Pendral Capital, and Kerry Murphy Healey, president of the Milken Center for the Promotion of the American Dream.
The company also announced earlier this month that it would abandon its dual-class shareholding structure and move to a “one-share, one-vote” regime.
Mr. Rowan, 58, the architect of Apollo’s highly successful insurance strategy, has already moved to put his stamp on the company, announcing a merger with Athene Holding Ltd.
earlier this month, which valued the Apollo insurance affiliate at $ 11 billion.
Apollo already owns a large part of Athene, and the insurer represents a large part of its $ 455 billion managed assets. The companies said the transaction aims to simplify the relationship and better align the interests of both groups of shareholders.
Write to Miriam Gottfried at [email protected]
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