In late 2020, the co-founder of one of the largest and most powerful private equity firms in the world, Apollo Global Management, sent a letter to the firm’s limited partners, addressing revelations that he had paid tens of millions to the now-deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The Apollo co-founder, Leon Black, stated that he was “appalled by” and “completely unaware of” the conduct of Epstein, and he denied that he himself was connected to any of it. “There has never been an allegation by anyone…that I engaged in any wrongdoing or inappropriate conduct,” he said.