yahoo news | Apollo’s Pest: How Epstein Courted All Three Billionaire Founders

Jeffrey Epstein was the catalyst for the most dramatic leadership change in Apollo Global Management’s history. Five years ago the late financier’s connections to founder Leon Black prompted a bruising scandal that forced Black to relinquish control of the private‑markets powerhouse to fellow billionaires Marc Rowan and Josh Harris. At the time Apollo tried to reassure investors, publishing an external law‑firm review that claimed a thorough examination of 60,000 documents and staff interviews found “no evidence” that Epstein had any relationship with the firm.

Newly released Justice Department files paint a very different picture. The trove of communications, meeting notes and financial records shows Epstein actively pursued each of Apollo’s three founding partners, seeking introductions, investment opportunities and personal favor. Prosecutors say the documents reveal a systematic effort by Epstein to embed himself in the firm’s top‑rung circles, an effort that continued long after his 2019 arrest and that ultimately contributed to the board’s decision to remove Black from the helm.

Apollo’s earlier attempt to quell the controversy now sits under fresh scrutiny. While the firm cited the independent report as proof of no substantive ties, the DOJ materials suggest the investigation was far more extensive than originally disclosed. The revelations have reignited questions about the depth of Epstein’s influence, the adequacy of Apollo’s internal controls, and what lingering reputational risk the firm may still face as it moves forward without its founding trio at the center of the saga.

Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2026-03-25/apollo-s-pest-how-jeffrey-epstein-courted-all-three-billionaire-founders

#jeffreyepstein #leonblack #apolloglobalmanagement #justicedepartment #epstein

yahoo news | How I Learned the Sinister Truth About My Interview With Epstein

George Rush, then a prominent columnist for the New York Daily News, first met Jeffrey Epstein in September 2009 while investigating rumors that the convicted sex‑offender was still recruiting under‑age girls. Through his contacts—most notably Palm Beach resident Renee Morrison—Rush learned that Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell had been subpoenaed and that an affidavit from “Jane Doe 102” (later identified as Virginia Roberts Giuffre) alleged a harrowing pattern of sexual abuse at Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion. Rush pursued the story, interviewing Giuffre’s lawyer Bradley Edwards, another accuser’s attorney, and former police chief Michael Reiter, while also reaching out to Epstein and his public‑relations adviser Howard Rubenstein for comment.

When Rush’s editor, Martin Dunn, informed him that Epstein had contacted the paper’s owner Mort Zuckerman, the stakes rose dramatically. Documents later released by the Department of Justice revealed a long‑standing, financially‑motivated friendship between Zuckerman and Epstein, including proposals for multimillion‑dollar estate‑planning deals. Epstein attempted to shape the coverage, offering “exclusive” depositions and demanding that Maxwell be omitted from the story. Despite Epstein’s pressure and a subpoena demanding the off‑the‑record interview recording, Zuckerman defended the newsroom’s shield‑law privilege, allowing Rush’s article to run on December 7, 2009—focused on a civil racketeering suit filed by Epstein, but deliberately leaving Maxwell out.

The fallout continued for years. Edwards later sought the interview tape to aid his defense against Epstein’s racketeering suit, prompting a legal battle that reached U.S. District Judge Lawrence M. McKenna, who initially ordered the tape’s surrender. After appeals and further court rulings, the order was vacated and Epstein eventually dropped his suit against Edwards in 2012, later apologizing for the attempted defamation. In hindsight, Rush’s reporting, combined with the DOJ‑released emails, exposed the depth of Epstein’s influence over media owners, his attempts to manipulate the press, and the broader network of powerful figures—such as Zuckerman—who maintained a close, though ultimately non‑criminal, relationship with the convicted trafficker.

Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-i-learned-the-sinister-truth-about-my-interview-with-epstein-by-george-rush/

#georgerush #newyorkdailynews #jeffreyepstein #ghislainemaxwell #virginiarobertsgiuffre

yahoo news | How Jeffrey Epstein helped solve a billionaire’s problems with women - The Bosto...

In October 2017 a yoga instructor who had been paid tens of thousands of dollars by billionaire Leon Black wrote to Jeffrey Epstein asking when she would finally receive the money promised by Black. Epstein confirmed that he would now wire the payment, a shift that marked the beginning of a deeper financial partnership between the two men. From 2012 onward Black paid Epstein roughly $170 million for tax‑ and estate‑planning services that far exceeded typical fees, while Epstein also helped Black conceal millions paid to women—some of whom were his sexual partners—by structuring gifts, trusts and charitable donations to evade taxes and audit scrutiny. Emails released by the Justice Department show Epstein brainstorming ways to hide the payments, defuse a government audit, and even intimidate women threatening to expose Black’s behavior.

Congressional investigators and the House Oversight Committee have focused on whether Black’s payments to Epstein were “hush‑money” rather than legitimate advisory fees. Senator Ron Wyden has argued that the scale of the payments and the involvement of Epstein in arranging non‑public settlements, such as the $62 million paid to the U.S. Virgin Islands, point to an attempt to hide illicit transfers. Black’s lawyers contend that Epstein exaggerated his role and that Black was unaware of any sex‑trafficking activities, but the released documents—including Black’s own financial records—show Epstein acting as a fixer who devised strategies to label large transfers as gifts, direct funds through trusts, and use a charitable foundation to mask donor identities.

The relationship eventually soured. In 2017 Epstein complained that he had not received the gratitude or compensation he felt owed, and a dispute over a rumor that Black used cocaine led to a heated “ugly meeting.” Despite the tension, the two continued to work together until Epstein’s 2019 arrest. Black later downplayed the connection, describing Epstein’s services in vague terms, while ongoing investigations by the IRS, congressional committees, and the Manhattan district attorney continue to examine the tax‑avoidance schemes, undisclosed payments to women, and the broader ethical and possibly illegal dimensions of their partnership.

Read more: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/03/25/metro/epstein-leon-black-money-women/

#jeffreyepstein #leonblack #justicedepartment #houseoversightcommittee #u.s.virginislands

yahoo news | OPINION: Did Leon Black really pay Jeffrey Epstein $170 million for 'tax and...

In June 2022 Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D‑OR) began probing the “suspiciously lucrative” relationship between former Apollo Global Management CEO Leon Black and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Black had stepped down from Apollo in March 2021 after controversy over his ties to Epstein, insisting he knew nothing of the criminal’s activities and that Epstein never did business with the firm. Yet Wyden’s request‑for‑information letter highlighted a company‑commissioned investigation that suggested Black may have paid Epstein up to $170 million for tax and estate‑planning advice—well beyond typical CEO compensation and far exceeding fees paid to certified professionals.

Wyden’s inquiry centered on several oddities: the alleged payments ranged from $23 million to $26 million per year for several years, dwarfing the median 2021 Fortune 500 CEO pay of $15.9 million; the compensation appeared far above what is reasonable for estate‑planning services; and many of the agreements were unsigned. One unsigned tranche alone accounted for $56.5 million paid in five installments between 2013 and 2014. Wyden pressed Apollo to preserve all documents related to its internal probe, asking for any backup material that could verify whether Epstein’s “proprietary” tax strategies actually saved Black billions of dollars or were merely unfounded claims.

Although Wyden is now the ranking Democrat rather than the chair of the Finance Committee, he continues to push for transparency, introducing the “Produce Epstein Treasury Records Act” to force the Treasury Department to release bank records and other financial documents to congressional investigators. Wyden’s persistence underscores a broader frustration with Republican blockades and a desire for accountability, arguing that Epstein’s victims deserve justice and that no individual’s wealth should shield them from scrutiny or the consequences of “horrifying sexual abuse and pedophilia.”

Read more: https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/opinion-did-leon-black-really-pay-jeffrey-epstein-170-million-for-tax-and-estate-planning

#leonblack #jeffreyepstein #senatefinancecommittee #ronwyden #produceepsteintreasuryrecordsact

"Even as evidence of Epstein’s crimes continued to mount, [David] Ross had continued to flatter and excuse him while he tried to raise money for his various art ventures...

“It was an undeserved punishment foisted on you by jealous creeps,” Ross wrote, in another message.

👉“I’m still proud to call you a friend,” he wrote, in 2015, when #Epstein was under scrutiny again, this time on suspicion of sex trafficking."👈
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/24/us/david-a-ross-jeffrey-epstein-donations.html

#JeffreyEpstein #EpsteinFiles #EpsteinClass #News #US

L'Huffington Post - News, inchieste e approfondimenti HuffPost: Quando l'arte diventa etica, si uccide l'arte e si uccide l'etica. Il caso Chaslin

Una mail del 12 settembre 2013 ha fatto perdere la conduzione dell'Aida al Teatro Massimo di Palermo al grande direttore d'orchestra francese. Il destinatario è Jeffrey Epstein. È bastata per una sentenza definitiva nel capoluogo siciliano

When art becomes ethics, it kills art and it kills ethics. The Chaslin case.

An email dated September 12, 2013, caused the direction of Aida at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo to be lost to the great French orchestra conductor. The recipient was Jeffrey Epstein. It was enough for a final judgment in the Sicilian capital.

#Chaslin #theTeatroMassimo #Palermo #French #JeffreyEpstein #Sicilian

https://www.huffingtonpost.it/cultura/2026/03/25/news/quando_larte_diventa_etica_si_uccide_larte_e_si_uccide_letica_il_caso_chaslin-21521026/

Il Fatto Quotidiano: Caso Epstein, perquisita a Parigi la sede della banca svizzera Rothschild: al centro i sospetti su Fabrice Aidan

Il suo nome compare in oltre 200 dei documenti pubblicati online dal Dipartimento di Giustizia americano, comprese e-mail inviate a Jeffrey Epstein tra il 2010 e il 2016 da account personali e delle Nazioni Unite, alimentando il sospetto che abbia condiviso documenti diplomatici con il finanziere pedofilo. Nel mirino l’ex diplomatico francese Fabrice Aidan, ex dipendente della banca privata svizzera Edmond de Rothschild. La sede parigina dell’istituto è stato perquisito dalla procura finanziaria francese, nell’ambito di un’indagine legata alle rivelazioni emerse dai documenti. Gli investigatori stanno esaminando i sospetti di corruzione che coinvolgono un funzionario pubblico straniero e di complicità che riguardano Aidan. L’inchiesta è stata avviata a seguito di una segnalazione del ministero degli Esteri francese e fa seguito alle rivelazioni pubblicate nei documenti su Epstein e ai successivi servizi giornalistici in Francia. Il caso è gestito dall’ufficio centrale francese per la lotta alla corruzione e ai reati fiscali e finanziari. Aidan è emerso come figura centrale nelle ripercussioni francesi della pubblicazione, il 30 gennaio, di milioni di documenti del Dipartimento di Giustizia degli Stati Uniti. Il sito investigativo francese Mediapart ha riferito che i documenti suggerivano che Aidan avesse fornito materiale riservato delle Nazioni Unite a Epstein. Lui ha negato qualsiasi illecito. Aidan ha lavorato alla banca Rotschild dal 2014 al 2016, per trasferirsi poi al gigante dell’energia Engie, che lo ha di recente licenziato.
L'articolo Caso Epstein, perquisita a Parigi la sede della banca svizzera Rothschild: al centro i sospetti su Fabrice Aidan proviene da Il Fatto Quotidiano.

Epstein case, Paris searches Rothschild Swiss bank headquarters: focus on suspicions regarding Fabrice Aidan

His name appears in over 200 documents published online by the U.S. Department of Justice, including emails sent to Jeffrey Epstein between 2010 and 2016 from personal accounts and the United Nations, fueling suspicion that he shared diplomatic documents with the pedophile financier. The focus is on the former French diplomat Fabrice Aidan, a former employee of the Swiss private bank Edmond de Rothschild. The Paris headquarters of the institution was searched by the French financial prosecutor’s office, as part of an investigation linked to the revelations emerging from the documents. Investigators are examining suspicions of corruption involving a foreign public official and complicity concerning Aidan. The investigation was initiated following a report from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and follows the revelations published in the documents on Epstein and subsequent journalistic reporting in France. The case is handled by the Central French Office for the Fight Against Corruption and Financial and Tax Crimes. Aidan emerged as a central figure in the French repercussions of the publication, on January 30, of millions of documents from the U.S. Department of Justice. The French investigative website Mediapart reported that the documents suggested that Aidan had provided confidential material from the United Nations to Epstein. He denied any wrongdoing. Aidan worked at Rothschild Bank from 2014 to 2016, before moving to energy giant Engie, which recently dismissed him.

Case Epstein, Paris raided: Swiss bank Rothschild headquarters at the center of suspicions on Fabrice Aidan comes from Il Fatto Quotidiano.

#Epstein #Paris #RothschildSwiss #FabriceAidan #JeffreyEpstein #theUnitedNations #French #FabriceAidan #Swiss #EdmonddeRothschild #Aidan #theFrench #France #Mediapart #RothschildBank #Engie #Rothschild #IlFattoQuotidiano

https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2026/03/25/caso-epstein-banca-rothschild-perquisizione-parigi-notizie/8336118/

The Guardian | Epstein accountant and lawyer say federal agents never questioned them by Oliver Milman

In House depositions, disgraced financier’s associates say they were not contacted after his 2008 plea deal

Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email

Jeffrey Epstein’s accountant and his attorney have both said that federal government investigators never interviewed them about the late financier’s crimes and their work with him, according to deposition videos released by the House of Representatives’ oversight committee.

Continue reading...

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/25/epstein-accountant-lawyer-house-depositions

#jeffreyepstein #federalgovernment #accountant #attorney