Leon Black to face Congress over $170 million payments to Jeffrey Epstein

Leon Black, the billionaire co-founder of Apollo Global Management, faced Congress Friday as House Oversight members dug into his long financial ties to Jeffrey Epstein and what those payments may reveal about a broader web of influence around the disgraced financier. Lawmakers wanted more than a retelling of a personal relationship: they were seeking hard answers about money flows, missed scrutiny and whether wealthy clients and institutions gave Epstein cover for years.

The hearing came after Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden sent his findings to House Oversight on June 4, the product of a four-year investigation into Black’s Epstein dealings. Wyden has said Black paid Epstein $170 million between 2012 and 2017 for purported tax and estate planning advice, a sum his office says was about 30 times higher than what Black paid other elite tax advisers. Wyden also said $10 million of the payments was papered over with a sham 501(c)(3) charity.

House Oversight first sought Black’s transcribed interview on March 3, asking him to appear in Washington, D.C., on May 13 before later scheduling him for this week. Chairman James Comer sent letters to seven people for transcribed interviews as part of the Epstein probe, and the committee has already begun releasing transcripts from other witnesses, including Bill Gates’s June 10 interview, as it widens the inquiry beyond Epstein himself.

Wyden’s office said Black’s payments to Epstein were made on an ad hoc basis between 2014 and 2017, without written services agreements, and that the fees were far above what Black paid other advisers. Wyden has also pointed to a $62 million settlement Black reached with the U.S. Virgin Islands to avoid criminal prosecution there, a separate episode that has sharpened scrutiny of how Black’s financial affairs intersected with Epstein’s orbit.

The testimony placed Black at the center of a congressional effort to map Epstein’s network through bank transfers, advisory relationships and settlements, not just social contact. With the House panel continuing to release material from its investigation, lawmakers are trying to determine who enabled Epstein, who benefited from his access, and why powerful institutions did not intervene sooner.