Billionaire Leon Black denied that he participated in Jeffrey Epstein's sex-trafficking scheme and said he was duped by the man he hired as a financial adviser, according to remarks prepared for Congress.
"I have never abused a woman. I have never been with an underage woman," according to a copy of Black's prepared remarks that was viewed by The Wall Street Journal. "I have never paid Epstein for access to women. I was never blackmailed by Epstein. I was not involved with, and had no knowledge of, any of Epstein's heinous conduct."
The co-founder of Apollo Global Management, Black was one of Epstein's biggest financial clients. In his prepared remarks for the House Oversight Committee, Black said he would answer the committee's questions about the work Epstein did for him but "will not speak about the personal lives of adult women who have not chosen, and do not deserve, to be connected, by me or anyone else, to Epstein."
Black has previously said he met Epstein around 1996 and decided to give Epstein a second chance after his 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution. He said he hired him for tax-planning and estate services.
In his prepared remarks, Black said that he believed Epstein when he told him the 2008 conviction was for an "isolated incident" and that he regrets giving him a second chance when he hired him in 2013. He said Epstein had "an unrivaled network of relationships" with notable figures including Deepak Chopra, Elon Musk and Bill Clinton. Black said Epstein "solved a massive estate problem for me."
"I now know, as does the world, that Epstein was engaged in horrific, sordid activities. I feel terrible for Epstein's victims. I want to state clearly that I did not know about this nefarious activity until Epstein was charged with trafficking in July 2019," he added.
Black stepped down as Apollo's chief executive in 2021 after an outside law firm hired by Apollo found that he paid Epstein $158 million for his tax-planning and estate services. The review by law firm Dechert found no evidence that Black was involved in Epstein's criminal activities.
The government release of FBI files showed that one Epstein victim told FBI agents in 2019 that Epstein directed her to give massages to Black and others. New York prosecutors looked into the allegations and Black was never charged. A lawyer for Black has previously said the allegations were unfounded.
The committee's investigation is focused on the federal government's handling of Epstein, who died in jail in 2019, and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence. It has already interviewed former President Clinton and billionaire Bill Gates. Both men denied wrongdoing.
Black, now 74 years old, owns about 7% of Apollo, which is one of the country's biggest private-capital firms. When Epstein was involved in his finances, the FBI files show Black had 69 bank accounts and a fortune estimated at about $5 billion in 2015. Forbes estimates his net worth is now about $13 billion.
Write to AnnaMaria Andriotis at annamaria.andriotis@wsj.com and Lauren Thomas at lauren.thomas@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 26, 2026 09:07 ET (13:07 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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