Leon Black alleged Friday he “had no knowledge of” Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged abuse and denied any wrongdoing, according to multiple outlets, as the billionaire testifies to Congress about his relationship with the late financier amid continued questions over why he paid Epstein millions of dollars.
Leon Black at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, on May 1, 2018.
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Black is sitting for a transcribed interview with the House Oversight Committee as part of its broader investigation into Epstein and his alleged abuse.
The cofounder of Apollo Private Management, Black has long been linked to Epstein as one of his financial clients, allegedly sending Epstein some $170 million for estate and tax planning.
Those payments have raised scrutiny for being more than would typically be paid for such financial services, and The New York Times reported in March that Epstein may have been used to pay women on Black’s behalf, which the billionaire’s attorneys denied.
Black stepped down from Apollo in 2021 over his relationship with Epstein, but has denied any wrongdoing or knowledge of the financier’s alleged abuse, and has also denied multiple allegations that women have made against him in connection with Epstein.
He repeated that denial Friday in his opening statement to the committee, according to excerpts of his opening remarks published by multiple outlets, telling Congress he “was not involved with, and had no knowledge of, any of Epstein’s heinous conduct.”
Black also claimed Epstein was dishonest in their financial arrangement, claiming Epstein told him his fees “were tax-deductible, ‘60-cent dollars’” but that was “false,” as quoted by CNBC, which he said means “what I believed to be $95 million of net fees paid to him over five years was actually $158 million.”
Black’s interview is taking place behind closed doors Friday, but a transcript is likely to be released in the coming days.
According to published quotes from his opening statement, Black denied any impropriety in connection with Epstein, saying, “I knew Jekyll. I didn’t know Hyde.” Black said “unequivocally that I have never abused a woman,” and his opening statement claims, “I have never been with an underage woman. I have never engaged in sex trafficking. I have never paid Epstein for access to women” and “I was never blackmailed by Epstein.” The billionaire cited a previous investigation that was done into his payments to Epstein, which concluded he paid $158 million to Epstein—which later estimates bumped up to $170 million—and those payments were for “highly valuable and legitimate tax and estate planning services for my family office.” The firm, Dechert, also concluded Epstein’s “tax work was responsible for billions of dollars in savings, and that all of Epstein’s work had been vetted by reputable law and accounting firms.” He pointed to Epstein’s “unrivaled network of relationships” to justify doing business with him, also saying the financier “solved a massive estate problem for me.” Black alleged he did not know about Epstein’s alleged abuse until he was indicted in 2019, and while he did business with Epstein after the financier’s previous 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution, he believed it was an “isolated incident” and now regrets his thinking. “I now know, as does the world, that Epstein was engaged in horrific, sordid activities,” Black said, as quoted by the Wall Street Journal. “I feel terrible for Epstein’s victims.”
Forbes estimates Black’s net worth at $13 billion as of Friday morning.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
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