Apollo Global Management and its billionaire co-founders Leon Black and Marc Rowan have been hit with a proposed class action in New York federal court alleging they misled investors about the firm's and their individual connections to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
According to a complaint filed Monday by plaintiff Solomon Feldman, Apollo Global has publicly denied having a business relationship with Epstein. But in reality, the disgraced financier who died in jail in 2019 of an apparent suicide while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges communicated with the firm's senior leadership and was advised on tax strategies and other corporate matters, according to Feldman.
The complaint states that reports about connections between Epstein and Apollo Global, Rowan and Black began to surface in 2020.
Specifically, the complaint points to an October 2020 article published by The New York Times detailing a relationship between Black and Epstein, including that Black had "wired Mr. Epstein at least $50 million in the years after Mr. Epstein's 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a teenage girl" and that "[i]t was not clear what kind of services Mr. Epstein provided to Mr. Black[.]"
Following the report, Apollo Global hired the law firm Dechert LLP to investigate Black's alleged ties to Epstein, and a few months later the firm announced that the investigation revealed that "Apollo never retained Epstein for any services and Epstein never invested in any Apollo-managed funds" and that the "findings of the report are consistent with statements made by Mr. Black and Apollo regarding the prior relationship," the complaint states.
The firm and its founders also made other statements during that time on investor calls and in filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, denying any ties to Epstein, according to the complaint.
However, Feldman claims the statements made by the defendants were misleading and failed to disclose that Rowan and Black "frequently communicated" with Epstein during the 2010s about Apollo Global's business and that due to the parties' "entanglement," "harm to Apollo Global's reputation was more than a mere possibility."
According to the complaint, the truth began to surface last month when The Financial Times published an article stating that files related to Epstein, released by the U.S. Department of Justice, showed that he had requested and received internal Apollo financial documents and "emailed, met and called some of the firm's most senior decision makers on sensitive matters."
"The article also detailed Epstein's involvement in Apollo Global's tax 'inversion' deal. In connection to this, Epstein was in contact with defendant Rowan and Sanjay Patel, another Apollo Global partner who '[ran] Apollo's business in Europe,'" the complaint states.
On this news, Feldman says Apollo Global's stock price fell $1.35 per share to close at $133.19 on Feb. 2, 2026, and continued to drop the following day by $6.34 to close at $126.85 on Feb. 3.
Another stock drop occurred two weeks later, after The Financial Times published an article about a letter to the SEC from the presidents of the American Federation of Teachers and the American Association of University Professors, urging the regulator to investigate statements by Apollo Global Management about its alleged ties to Epstein.
The presidents called for the agency to investigate Apollo's investor communications, which the groups said "currently give an inaccurate and incomplete picture of the firm and its partners' connections to Epstein."
On this news, the complaint states, Apollo Global's share price fell $6.81 to close at $118.34 on Feb. 17.
The suit claims a final stock drop occurred a few days later, on Feb. 21, when CNN reported on Apollo Global's response to the teachers' unions' letter.
"The article quoted Eleanor Bloxham — founder and CEO of The Value Alliance Company, which advises boards and executives — who said the unions have a 'strong case' for pushing for an SEC investigation, described Apollo's response as 'very weak', and questioned why defendant Rowan's meetings and correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein was not previously disclosed," the complaint states.
On this news, Apollo Global shares dropped by $5.99 to close at $113.73 on Feb. 23, according to the complaint.
Feldman's suit seeks damages, attorney fees and a jury trial. Representatives for the parties did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.
Feldman is represented by Phillip Kim and Laurence M. Rosen of The Rosen Law Firm PA.
Counsel information for the defendants was not immediately available.
The case is Feldman v. Apollo Global Management Inc. et al., case number 1:26-cv-01692, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Mar 3
Deal Summary
