Apollo Global Management Inc. sought to reassure clients that its top executives didn't have a relationship with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein after some employees — including Chief Executive Officer Marc Rowan — were named in newly released files by the Justice Department.
In "select instances" Rowan and other Apollo employees provided information to Epstein in connection with his tax work for Apollo co-founder Leon Black, Apollo said in a letter to clients.
Epstein's deep ties with Black have haunted the firm since 2019, when Epstein was arrested on federal charges that he molested and exploited teenage girls.
"Black, who left the firm in 2021, previously retained and compensated Mr. Epstein for personal tax advice," Apollo President Jim Zelter said in the letter. "While Mr. Epstein sought to do work with the Apollo co-founders other than Mr. Black, it was declined at every turn."
The statement comes after two teachers unions sent a letter to the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission on Tuesday asking the agency to scrutinize whether a 2021 statement from Apollo about the extent of its contact with the late sex offender could be considered materially false or misleading.
The union said its 1.8 million members have a combined commitment to Apollo of at least $27.5 billion.
The unions referred to an investigation commissioned by Apollo in 2020 and carried out by law firm Dechert, which found no evidence that Epstein or any Epstein entity had any relationship with Apollo or any Apollo-managed funds, despite the convicted pedophile's repeated efforts to ingratiate himself with other senior executives at Apollo.
"Despite the flurry of coverage and certain constituents pushing their own agendas, the facts remain the same," Zelter said. "Neither Marc Rowan nor anyone else at Apollo (excluding Leon Black) had either a business or personal relationship with Jeffrey Epstein."
Dechert, for its part, reviewed over 60,000 documents at the time and interviewed more than 20 witnesses.
The Justice Department in recent weeks released millions of pages of files from years of Epstein-related probes. The files show that Epstein corresponded with Black's colleagues at Apollo, sometimes arranging calls and in-person meetings.
Rowan and Epstein also exchanged some emails over the years, the latest documents show, and Rowan arranged to meet with Epstein multiple times, including at least two gatherings in 2016.
The late sex offender also considered buying a private jet from Rowan himself, though the plane wasn't ultimately sold to Epstein, Bloomberg previously reported.
"Transparency and accessibility are hallmarks of who we are, and we will not be dissuaded from speaking out," Zelter said. "The facts matter. From an Apollo perspective, there's nothing new in these documents."
The Justice Department's largest release yet of the Epstein files shows Black consulting Epstein on matters that stretched far beyond estate and tax planning, Bloomberg previously reported.
Over the years, Epstein arranged family portraits, helped the billionaire leverage up a vast art collection, and obscured some of his most sensitive secrets.
(Shown in photo: Marc Rowan. Credit: Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg)
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