Leon Black told Epstein panel he paid US$21 million to woman to keep affair secret
The billionaire investor called it extortion and blackmail, and said the woman had originally demanded US$100 million
Former Apollo Global Management Chief Executive Officer Leon Black told Congress he paid US$21 million to a woman he accused of blackmailing and extorting him.
The billionaire investor said during a June 26 interview with the US House Oversight Committee that he paid the money to the woman, with whom he had had an affair, after she demanded US$100 million because he “ruined her life”.
Black’s appearance at the voluntary interview was part of the congressional investigation into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. A transcript of the interview was released on Friday.
Black said he had discussed the financial arrangement with Epstein, who oversaw some of his estate planning. The private equity tycoon, who agreed to pay the woman in instalments over 15 years, acknowledged in the interview that it was a large sum in exchange for signing a nondisclosure agreement over the affair.
“I had a wife and children and was the chair of a public company,” he said. “I agree with you it was a lot of money. It was a lot less than the US$100 million that she started with. And I viewed it as total blackmail and extortion but didn’t want it to be public, and so we negotiated a settlement.”
The names of the women Black signed NDAs with were redacted in the transcript. The dollar amount of the original demand matches that sought by Black’s former mistress Guzel Ganieva, who demanded US$100 million from Black in 2015.