Billionaire Leon Black has stepped down from his role as CEO of Apollo Global Management after months of criticism over his financial entanglement with Jeffrey Epstein. Black, who co-founded the private equity giant in 1990, said his wife’s and his own “health issues” played a key role in his decision to step down now after previously announcing his plans to relinquish his post in July. Apollo co-founder Marc Rowan has taken over as CEO, part of a planned succession announced in January after the company released a report detailing how Black had paid Epstein $158 million for financial advice between 2012 and 2017. “In the last few months, not only did we announce a transformative merger with Athene, but also expect to report that our first-quarter earnings will exceed analyst consensus in all relevant measures and that the first quarter fundraising is trending towards the high end of our $15-20b annual range,” Black said in a Monday statement announcing his departure.
