Leon Black Tells House Panel He Paid Epstein $158 Million

Billionaire investor Leon Black told the House Oversight Committee on June 20 that he paid Jeffrey Epstein $158 million over several years but said Epstein deceived him and that he committed no criminal wrongdoing. Black, co-founder and former chief executive of Apollo Global Management, appeared for a closed-door deposition as the 16th witness in the committee's investigation.

He said he was unaware of Epstein's criminal activity until 2019 and paid the money for tax, estate planning and other services tied to Epstein's network of influential contacts.

"I knew Jekyll. I didn't know Hyde," Black said. He added that he gave Epstein a second chance after the financier's 2008 guilty plea to soliciting prostitution from a minor, a decision he now regrets.

Black denied ever abusing a woman, meeting an underage woman, engaging in sex trafficking, paying Epstein for access to women or being blackmailed. A 2021 Apollo review confirmed the $158 million total paid between 2012 and 2017. Epstein was indicted in July 2019 on federal sex-trafficking charges and died by suicide in a New York jail cell later that year while awaiting trial.

Black is mentioned in Department of Justice files and in birthday messages released by the committee last year, including a poem attributed to him. Committee Chairman Rep. , said before the deposition that it could prove the most significant yet.

Sen. , referred findings from his own four-year probe to the panel this month, alleging Epstein may have acted as a middleman for some payments. Other witnesses in the investigation include former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, former Attorney General Pam Bondi and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.