A union with 1.4 million members is asking the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate Apollo Global Management’s past statements about Jeffrey Epstein.
In a letter to the SEC’s head of enforcement on Tuesday, the American Federation of Teachers accused the asset manager of making “misleading” claims about its exposure to the convicted sex offender.
The letter says that Apollo previously suggested that its Epstein risk was largely limited to cofounder Leon Black, who stepped down as CEO in 2021 — after a law firm hired by Apollo found that Black paid Epstein millions over the years for financial advice.
The letter went on to say that the Justice Department’s latest release of Epstein files suggests the firm provided an “inaccurate and incomplete picture of the firm and its partners’ connections to Epstein.”
A spokesperson for Apollo CEO Marc Rowan stood by the firm’s 2021 disclosure to investors, saying that no one other than Black “had either a business or personal relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.”
“There is nothing new here,” the statement said. “While Mr. Epstein sought to do work with the Apollo cofounders other than Mr. Black, it was declined at every turn.”
The AFT, whose members have billions in pension money invested with Apollo, cited communications between cofounders Rowan and a third cofounder, Josh Harris, released by the DOJ on January 30. It noted communications between Rowan and Epstein spanned from 2013 to 2016, including a 2016 email showing Rowan and Epstein discussing “Apollo calculations for a tax receivable agreement.”
“As the Epstein files make clear, Apollo partners Rowan and Harris appear to have consulted with Epstein on numerous personal and professional matters,” the letter said.
“Clearly, there is material risk in this association with Apollo’s business, and its investors deserve to be accurately informed about that matter,” said the letter to the SEC’s Margaret Ryan.
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