Investment giant Apollo Global Management issued a statement Wednesday denying that Chief Executive Marc Rowan maintained any ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as newly released documents continue creating controversy throughout corporate America.
In a communication to clients and partners, Apollo stated: “Neither Marc Rowan nor anyone else at Apollo (excluding Leon Black) had either a business or personal relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.”
The recently disclosed Epstein files do not suggest Apollo or its leadership participated in or knew about Epstein’s criminal conduct.
Apollo’s clarification follows a request by two teachers’ unions on Tuesday asking federal securities regulators to examine what they consider “misleading” communications Apollo made to investors. These unions maintain financial stakes in Apollo via their retirement funds.
Company co-founder Leon Black, a billionaire, departed Apollo in early 2021 following corporate governance reforms sparked by scrutiny of his connections to the disgraced financier. Rowan assumed the CEO position after Black’s exit.
An investigation conducted by law firm Dechert LLP, which Apollo previously disclosed, found no evidence of wrongdoing by Black. The review determined that although Black attempted to connect Epstein with his co-founders Rowan and Josh Harris, no Apollo staff member besides Black “ever seriously considered hiring Epstein.”
Recently released Epstein documents show communications between Rowan’s and Epstein’s offices regarding at least five planned meetings between the two men. Reuters was unable to confirm whether these scheduled meetings actually occurred.
“From an Apollo perspective, there’s nothing new in these documents,” the company stated. “In select instances, Mr. Rowan and other Apollo employees provided information to Epstein in connection with his tax work for Mr. Black.”
The document release also reveals that Brad Wechsler, who managed Black’s family office, requested in emails that Apollo personnel include Epstein on materials concerning tax issues for the three Apollo founders’ family offices, including Rowan’s, citing his “substantive expertise.”
Apollo emphasized: “While Mr. Epstein sought to do work with the Apollo co-founders other than Mr. Black, it was declined at every turn.”
The latest document disclosures have intensified examination of Apollo executives following Epstein’s 2008 conviction on prostitution charges, including one case involving a minor. Epstein died in a Manhattan detention facility in 2019 in what authorities determined was suicide.
American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and American Association of University Professors President Todd Wolfson wrote to the SEC: “As the Epstein files make clear, Apollo partners Rowan and Harris appear to have consulted with Epstein on numerous personal and professional matters.”
Following congressional directives, the Justice Department has made public numerous documents connecting Epstein to influential figures across politics, finance, academia and business, spanning both before and after his 2008 guilty plea to prostitution charges.
These revelations have also impacted major financial institutions including UBS and Morgan Stanley, which established accounts for Epstein’s trusts from 2015 to 2019, well after his conviction and registration as a sex offender.
The controversy continues to create political challenges for former President Donald Trump, who previously socialized with Epstein during the 1990s and 2000s. Trump has denied knowledge of the financier’s crimes and claims he severed ties in the early 2000s, prior to Epstein’s plea agreement.
