Leon Black Net Worth 2026

Leon David Black (born July 31, 1951)^[1] is an American private equity investor. He is the former CEO of Apollo Global Management, which he co-founded in 1990 with Marc Rowan and Josh Harris.^[2] Black was the chairman of the Museum of Modern Art from 2018 to 2021.^[3][4][5]

Black resigned from both Apollo Global Management and the Museum of Modern Art in the wake of revelations about his business ties to Jeffrey Epstein.^[6][7][8] Black paid Epstein $170 million over a six-year period for what Black said were tax and estate-planning services.^[9] However, the sum far exceeded what elite law or accounting firms charged for such work.^[9] In 2026, the New York Times revealed that Epstein helped Black dispense money to women, at least $20 million to a dozen women, some of whom Black had sexual relations with.^[9]

Black is a son of Eli M. Black (1921–1975), a Jewish businessman who emigrated from Poland as a child (surname, "Blachowitz") and was the chairman and later majority owner of the United Brands Company. His mother, Shirley Lubell (sister of Tulsa oil executive Benedict I. Lubell) was an artist.^[10] In 1975, his father killed himself at age 53.^[10][11]

Black received an AB in philosophy and history from Dartmouth College in 1973 and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1975.^[10] He served on the Board of Trustees of Dartmouth College from 2002 to 2011.^[12] In 2012, Black gave $48 million toward a new visual arts center at Dartmouth College.^[13] He serves on Dartmouth's President's Leadership Council and has endowed a chair in Shakespeare Studies as well as a program in Jewish Studies.^[14]

Black started out as an accountant at Peat Marwick (which later became KPMG) and with the publisher Boardroom Reports. He also interviewed at Lehman Brothers but was told he did not have the brains or personality to succeed on Wall Street.^[3] From 1977 to 1990, Black was employed by investment bank Drexel Burnham Lambert, where he rose to managing director and head of the Mergers & Acquisitions Group, and co-head of the Corporate Finance Department.^[15] At Drexel, Black was regarded as "junk bond king" Michael Milken's right-hand man.^[16]

In 2012, Black acquired Phaidon Press, a fine art books publishing house.^[17]

Black is married to Debra Ressler,^[18] a 1976 Barnard College graduate and Broadway producer and sister of Ares Management co-founder Antony Ressler.^[19][20][21] They have four children.^[22] One of their children, Benjamin, runs an investment fund and was nominated by President Donald Trump to run the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation.^[23][24] Debra Black is a melanoma survivor. In 2007, the couple donated $25 million to form the new Melanoma Research Alliance.^[25] Leon and Debra both serve on the board of the organization.^[26]

In 2018, he was elected chairman of The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City. His term commenced on July 1, 2018.^[3][4] His term as chairman ended on July 1, 2021, and he did not seek re-election, in the wake of protests from dozens of artists and activists over his financial ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.^[5][27] In 2016, Black listed his condominium at Miami's Faena House for sale with listing agent Oren Alexander.^[28]

The Scream by Edvard Munch

In May 2012, Black purchased one of the four versions of Edvard Munch's The Scream. He paid $119.9 million for the pastel, then the highest price ever paid for a work of art.^[29] In September 2012, the Museum of Modern Art announced the work would be exhibited for a six-month period starting in October.^[30]

In June 2013, it was revealed that Black had purchased Head of a Young Apostle, an 11-inch-wide (28 cm) work by Raphael for £29 million after a four-party bidding war.^[31]

On December 22, 2015, it was reported that Black purchased at auction a complete set of the Daniel Bomberg Babylonian Talmud for $9.3 million.^[32] According to a press release from the Sotheby's auction house, the sale was "a new world auction record for any piece of Judaica."^[33]

In June 2016, a lawsuit over the Picasso sculpture Bust of a Woman (Marie-Thérèse) between the advisory firm Pelham Europe and art gallery owner Larry Gagosian was settled. Pelham Europe, an agent for a member of Qatar's royal family, and Gagosian, who had resold the bust to Black, both claimed ownership. The case was settled by Maya Widmaier-Picasso, the owner of the sculpture. The settlement included Black getting the sculpture and Widmaier Picasso paying Pelham an undisclosed amount.^[34]

Black had a friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, stretching back to the 1990s.^[9] For Epstein's 50th birthday greeting album that was compiled in 2003 by Epstein's associate Ghislaine Maxwell, Black contributed a "handwritten poem with a rhyme scheme" which included the acronym "V.F.P.C." which stood for "Vanity Fair Poster Child". This was in reference to a profile of Epstein that was being written for the magazine.^[35] The poem contained the lines "Blonde, Red or Brunette, spread out geographically/With this net of fish, Jeff’s now The Old Man and The Sea". He signed the poem "Love and kisses, Leon".^[35]

In 2009, Black contributed $60 million in a settlement with Huntsman Corporation after Apollo was sued for backing out of a merger the previous year.^[36] In 2021, Black stepped down as CEO and chairman after Dechert LLP, which had been retained several months earlier by Apollo to investigate Black's dealings with Epstein, published a report finding that Black had paid $158 million to Epstein between 2012 and 2017 for advice on taxes and estate planning.^{[37][38][39][40]} In 2022, Black included Josh Harris in a civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) lawsuit, alleging that he led a group within Apollo attempting to tarnish his reputation after his ties to Epstein were reported.^[41] Federal judge Paul Engelmayer dismissed the suit for lack of evidence, with an appeals court upholding the decision in 2023.^[42][43]

In 2019, Black stated that he maintained a "limited relationship" with Epstein.^[44]

In 1997, Black appointed Epstein one of the trustees of his Foundation.^[45] In his 2020 letter to Apollo investors, Black said that Epstein provided him with "estate planning, tax and philanthropic advice" to his "family partnership and other related family entities".^[46] The New York Times reported that Black had paid Epstein at least $50 million for such services from 2012 to 2017.^[45] Black did not at the time confirm the $50 million sum reported by The New York Times, but said that he paid Epstein "millions of dollars annually for his work".^[47] In October 2020, Black requested that the Apollo board conduct an independent review of his relationship with Epstein, and it retained the law firm Dechert LLP to do so.^[48][49][50] Black has said that he "deeply regrets" his relationship with Epstein.^[51]

The review conducted by Dechert LLP was released on January 25, 2021. It showed that Black had paid Epstein around $158 million from 2012 through 2017 for financial services.^[52] Using Epstein's tax avoidance strategies, Black saved at least $1.3 billion in taxes.^[53] Black pledged his intention to donate $200 million to women's initiatives.^[54][55] In 2023, Black paid $62.5 million to the U.S. Virgin Islands to be released from claims related to Epstein.^[56] In July 2023, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee made public that it was investigating Black's tax strategies and dealings with Epstein.^[57]

In July 2025, Senator Ron Wyden, who sits on the Senate Finance Committee, called on the Internal Revenue Service to investigate potential tax evasion performed by Epstein for Black. Wyden accused the IRS of failing to properly audit "at least $158 million in payments that Black made to Epstein between 2012 and 2017 for complex tax-related transactions." Wyden urged the Justice Department to subpoena Epstein-related records from Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Deutsche Bank AG in regards to his financial relationship with Black.^[37][48][58]

In March 2021, Russian model Guzel Ganieva claimed in a series of tweets, that beginning in 2008 she was "sexually harassed and abused by [Black] for years [and ultimately] forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement under duress". Black denied the allegations, stating that he had engaged in a years long consensual affair with her. Black accused her of extortion after paying her millions of dollars through an NDA to keep quiet about their affair.^[59][60][61] Ganieva filed a lawsuit (represented by Wigdor LLP), and Black countersued her.^[62][63] Ganieva also alleged that Black introduced her to Epstein, and that he attempted to force her to have sex with him.^[64] Courts dismissed Ganieva's lawsuit in May 2023, with the judge determining the lawsuit was "glaringly deficient" and that the "NDA clearly and unambiguously covers all claims arising out of the parties’ relationship, past or future".^[65][61] Black described the lawsuit as "exceptionally painful".^[65] In 2026, unsealed emails showed that, in 2015, Ganieva had demanded $100 million from Black. Jeffrey Epstein had assisted Black in strategizing how to handle the conflict, arranging meetings between Ganieva and Black. Ganieva ultimately agreed to a non-disclosure agreement, under which Black paid her $100,000 per month for many years.^[66]

In 2022, the law firm that represented Ganieva (Wigdor LLP) also represented another accuser, Cheri Pierson. She filed a lawsuit accusing Black of raping her in 2002 in Jeffrey Epstein's New York City mansion.^[67] Black denied the allegations; with his attorney describing them as an extortion attempt.^[68] Pierson dropped her lawsuit against Black in February 2024.^[69]

On July 25, 2023, a third lawsuit was brought by Wigdor LLP, alleging that that Black violently raped a 16-year-old girl with autism and Down syndrome in Epstein's Manhattan townhouse in 2002.^[70][71] Black denied the allegations, and his attorney described the accusations as "frivolous and sanctionable." Black's attorney accused Wigdor LLP of repeatedly manufacturing "defamatory lies, masquerading as allegations", describing them as “made up, entirely uncorroborated and, as pleaded, squarely violate the statute of limitations.”^[70]

In 2026, Wigdor LLP filed a fourth lawsuit against Black, alleging that he used strategic lawsuits against public participation against accusers, and the attorneys representing them.^[72]

Black was a trustee of the Museum of Modern Art, the Jewish Museum, the Asia Society, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Mount Sinai Hospital, the Cardozo School of Law, and the Vail Valley Foundation.^[14]

Through the Debra and Leon Black Family Foundation, he provided $7.5 million to establish a fellowship program for U.S. military personnel and veterans at Harvard Kennedy School.^[73]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Leon and Debra Black partnered with Aramark and the Mayor's Fund to launch NYC Healthcare Heroes. They committed $20 million to provide hundreds of thousands of care packages, including food, household goods, and personal care items, to over 100,000 healthcare workers in New York City.^[74][75]

General

Media related to Leon Black at Wikimedia Commons

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