Overview of Leon Black’s Slow Burn
This episode of The Powers That Be Daily features Peter Hamby interviewing Bill Cohan about Cohan’s new book, Money to Burn: The Unvarnished Truth About Leon Black, Apollo, and the Rise of a New Wall Street. The conversation traces Leon Black’s rise from the Drexel Burnham era to co-founding Apollo, and then to his eventual fall from grace amid scrutiny over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, internal Apollo succession tensions, and his own personal missteps.
Apollo’s Rise From the Ashes of Drexel
How Apollo got started
- Cohan says Apollo emerged in 1990 after Drexel Burnham Lambert collapsed.
- Leon Black, Josh Harris, and Mark Rowan were part of a generation of financiers shaped by Drexel’s junk-bond culture.
- Apollo’s early edge came not from flashy differentiation, but from seizing a market opportunity during a credit freeze:
- buying distressed debt at a discount,
- waiting for the economy to improve,
- and profiting as those assets recovered or converted into equity.
The key early breakthrough
- A major turning point was French bank Credit Lyonnais backing Apollo with hundreds of millions of dollars.
- That backing helped fund distressed-debt strategies that made Apollo enormous profits.
- Cohan also highlights Apollo’s later purchase of Executive Life’s junk-bond portfolio as another huge win.
Leon Black, Wealth, and the Apollo “Afterlife”
What ultra-wealth changed
- Once Apollo principals became billionaires, their interests expanded beyond finance.
- Cohan points to the classic billionaire portfolio:
- private jets,
- homes in New York, the Hamptons, London, and Los Angeles,
- yachts,
- and expensive personal indulgences.
- Leon Black, in particular, became known for his world-class art collection, which Cohan describes as one of the most significant in private hands.
Succession tensions
- The episode also touches on friction between Leon Black and Josh Harris, who had long wanted the CEO role.
- Apollo’s eventual leadership transition became entangled with scandal rather than a clean handoff.
Jeffrey Epstein and Leon Black’s Downfall
The money trail
- The biggest controversy discussed is Black’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
- After Epstein’s death, a New York Times report said Black had paid him $50–$75 million.
- A later internal report found the total was actually $158 million.
Cohan’s explanation
- According to Cohan, Black described Epstein as a kind of “Svengali” who:
- introduced him to powerful people,
- helped solve a trust/tax problem for his children’s estates,
- and gave advice that allegedly saved Black’s family billions in taxes.
- Cohan says Epstein then increasingly inserted himself into Black’s personal and business affairs, including:
- art transactions,
- jets,
- boats,
- and other tax-sensitive assets.
The broader point
- Cohan does not present evidence that Black was involved in Epstein’s criminal abuse.
- He does argue that Black’s judgment was deeply compromised by his association with Epstein and by his own personal behavior.
Why Black Resigned
Two separate scandals converged
- Apollo planned for Black to step down as CEO in mid-2021 after the Dechert report.
- But that plan collapsed when:
- the Epstein revelations intensified,
- and a consensual affair with another woman blew up publicly after she tweeted about it in violation of an NDA.
Result
- Black resigned immediately as CEO and from Apollo’s board.
- Cohan frames the exit as the product of both the Epstein controversy and Black’s poor personal decisions.
Cohan’s Response to New York Times Criticism
What the criticism was about
- Ben Smith reported that New York Times reporters David Enrich and Matt Goldstein were unhappy with aspects of Cohan’s book.
- The reported complaints centered on:
- Cohan’s access to Leon Black,
- the way Black is portrayed,
- and the inclusion of text messages involving Goldstein and the woman Black had an affair with.
Cohan’s rebuttal
- He says:
- there was no secret deal with Black,
- Black spoke to him voluntarily and on the record,
- the texts were public and fair game,
- and he gave Goldstein a chance to comment.
- Cohan characterizes the dispute as normal journalistic turf tension.
Main Takeaways
- Apollo’s origin story is rooted in the fallout from Drexel and the junk-bond era.
- Leon Black’s business genius helped build a private-equity giant, but his legacy is now inseparable from scandal.
- Jeffrey Epstein was not just a sideshow; Cohan portrays him as deeply embedded in Black’s financial and personal life.
- Black’s downfall was driven by a mix of Epstein-related scrutiny and his own personal conduct.
- The book is framed as an unsparing account of how power, wealth, and judgment failures collided at the top of Wall Street.