Leon Black to Phase Down as Apollo’s C.E.O. Above Payments to Jeffrey Epstein

Despite the fact that Mr. Black started Apollo with his young associates — Mr. Harris is 56 and Mr. Rowan 58 — he has been extensive been the face and voice of the organization.

In constructing Apollo into a worldwide money powerhouse, Mr. Black has designed himself and his co-founders immensely prosperous: His personalized fortune is approximated at more than $8 billion, and he owns a substantial personal art selection — including a variation of Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” — and is the chairman of the Museum of Modern-day Artwork.

But when Apollo held its most the latest earnings phone in late October, there ended up presently signs his dealings with Mr. Epstein were being leading to ripples, both in the company and among the traders. In an unusual move, Mr. Black read through a brief assertion about the Epstein make a difference before handing more than the conference to Mr. Harris and Mr. Rowan.

Apollo has prolonged specialised in shopping for up distressed businesses and retooling them, but it also boasts large credit, infrastructure and actual estate companies. Mr. Rowan was the driving pressure driving Apollo’s flourishing insurance coverage business and its insurance coverage subsidiary, Athene Keeping, which has fueled the Wall Street’s company earnings in modern yrs.

At a single time, both Mr. Rowan and Mr. Harris had been seen as the heirs clear to Mr. Black. But with Mr. Rowan’s determination to pull back again from working day-to-working day affairs, quite a few on Wall Road assumed the job would drop to Mr. Harris, who has the run the nuts and bolts of Apollo’s vast buyout procedure.

Mr. Harris, who is an operator of the Philadelphia 76rs basketball staff and the New Jersey Devils hockey crew, reported he would “fully support” Mr. Rowan as chief government. “I will aim on increasing our international search for investor returns, which is at the core of our achievements,” he stated in a assertion.

As the only a few users of Apollo’s government committee, the founders hold appreciable sway above the corporation. As of now, the conclusion to identify Mr. Rowan as Mr. Black’s successor does not will need acceptance of the company’s board. And all three men — who have much of their web well worth tied up in the company — have a vested interest in the balance of the firm.