Transcription
Would you pay $170 million to one of the most notorious traffickers of this century? The obvious answer is no. But there's actually one billionaire who really wired a known offender that boatload of money. We'll get into what exactly he got in exchange for that money.
But before that, we have to jump to what happened on the morning of July 6th, 2019. A man sits in the corner office of the 42nd floor of a high-rise New York skyscraper. On Wall Street, he's known as a ruthless dealmaker. He's filthy rich, has powerful friends, but Leon Black has one friend in particular who is as powerful as he's disgusting. Jeffrey Epstein.
Breaking news. Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein arrested on news tracking charges. Beneath his carefully crafted billionaire persona lies a dark secret. A secret that if revealed could destroy everything. Fast forward to today and his past might have finally caught up with him. Jeffrey Xeen got away with what he got away with because of who was in his address book. This address book is called the little black book. It contains thousands of contacts, including high-profile ones, like numerous phone numbers for Donald Trump or Bill Clinton. It is a map of influence that connects Wall Street to Washington, Hollywood to hedge funds, all orbiting around one man's island paradise that heightens unspeakable horrors.
But all of this has been known for a long time. At least 7 years ago is the first time Epstein's Little Black Book surfaced. So, why is this Epstein thing trending again? Let's quickly recap. In 2008, Epstein was found guilty of soliciting prostitution from a minor. Most men in that position disappear into the prison system for years. Epstein didn't. He got 18 months daytime work release from his own private wing, back to his mansion for meetings, back to his cell at night. The court system merely gave him a slap on the wrist.
Fast forward a decade, he's arrested again, but this time the charges are darker, larger, industrial in scale. Human trafficking. Epstein was accused of operating a pattern of exploitation across his residences in Manhattan, Palm Beach, and elsewhere. His victims were recruited to service Etstein, his friends, and to recruit others into the cycle. The details are widely covered in countless YouTube videos or Netflix documentaries.
But here's what matters now. First, the Department of Justice is reportedly sitting on a truckload of unreleased files. The Epstein files, they are the center of attention of the recent ex feud between Elon Musk and Donald Trump. Time to drop the really big bomb. Donald Trump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT. He doubles down and says, "Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out. The documents are so valuable and explosive that even the president of the United States couldn't stay silent about it."
These files allegedly include thousands of images and videos, some featuring minors, plus Epstein's infamous black book, evidence of abuse, evidence of association. And yet, here's the second point, the one that burns the loudest. Aside from Epstein himself and his longtime associate, Gileain Maxwell, no one else has faced criminal charges. Not one. Effectively, this means all this human trafficking was all for Epstein's own benefit. The parties, the island, the private jets were for an audience of one and not for anyone associated with a little black book.
Which brings us to Leon Black and the questions that don't go away. And why would someone pay $170 million to a convicted predator? Who really kept the Epstein system going? This story isn't just about Epstein or Leon Black. It's about the machine that made him untouchable. To get to the bottom of this, we have to rewind because Leon Black has been close to massive criminal enterprises before. First time standing in the shadows.
Leon Black's life seems straight out of a story book. There are a lot of influential and privileged people working in the finance industry. One thing most of these people have in common is their upbringing. Prestigious schools, high-profile events, and luxurious vacations. And that's also the case for Leon Black. Born into wealth, Leon enjoys a life of privilege, opportunity, and pleasure. But the story of his picture perfect life is about to take an ugly turn.
But instead, the company's losses spiraled out of control. As the weight of his failures grows unbearable, the man stands at the window, staring out at the city far below. Financial ruin is awaiting him. Suddenly, he swings his briefcase against the glass, shattering the silence. He climbs onto the ledge and leaps. 44 floors below, his body hits the ground. This man was Eli [music] Black, Leon Black's father.
The untimely death of his father impacts Leyon deeply. As Leon struggles to come to terms with the enormity of his loss, he feels the weight of responsibility bearing down upon him. Leon Black now realizes that he is the man of the family and he knows what he must do now. Instead of letting his grief consume him, he turns it into fuel for success. He knows that he must succeed not just for himself, but also for his father. He's going to build a financial empire that will disrupt the industry. A private equity firm that will rival [music] Blackstone, another powerful finance empire you might know about. And similar to Blackstone, Leon Black's empire would apply the most extreme tactics to reach his goals. Some of those tactics would later bring him face to face with one of the most notorious predators of the century.
Shortly after graduating, Leon is hired by Michael Milan, the junk bond king, to work at Drexel Burnham Lambert. Who was this pied piper of corporate paper? This king of junk bonds. Our icon of the day is Michael Milan, named one of the 75 most influential people of the 21st century. Junk bonds were already out of fashion when most of us were born because Wall Street had already come up with other instruments to rip off middle America. But let's quickly focus on what a junk bond actually is. A junk bond is simply a low-rated, high yield, high percentage rate bond that where you are funding a company in exchange for you're putting up say $100 and the company agrees to pay you back say a 13% or 14%. Interest rate as opposed to say the 8% that you might get on a bank CD, but you don't have any insurance on it. On a junk bond, you don't have the same type of good credit quality that a firm like Coca-Cola might give you or a Walmart might give you.
Michael Millan is a master of this world. He knows the ins and outs of the junk bond market like the back of his hand, and he has a talent for identifying undervalued companies with a potential for explosive growth. Leon starts as an associate in the mergers and acquisitions department, but his razor sharp mind and unrelenting ambition propels him to the top of the firm as the managing director. But it's also this ambition that will trigger his downfall later. For now, though, he works closely with Milan and is regarded as his right-hand man. Leon can't help but be captivated by Michael Milan. In the finance industry, having a strong mentor is the difference between success and failure. Street had strong mentors. But sometimes when they see the truth behind their success, they stop respecting them. It's different for Leon. He is fascinated by Milan's success and he sees the potential for enormous profits in the junk bond market. But as he gets caught up in Milan's orbit, absorbing his teachings like a sponge, Leyon starts to see the lines between legal and illegal becoming blurred. And Leon Black soon realizes that great success comes at a cost.
The year is 1986, and Michael Milan and his team at Drexel Burnham Lambert are about to pull off one of the biggest deals in Wall Street history. The target is none other than Beer Tree Foods. A massive conglomerate with a portfolio of food and consumer products. Products that every American needs. It's a perfect acquisition target. Private equity firms borrow massive sums to snatch up companies and leverage buyouts. The strategy often pays off, especially when profits come from slashing jobs. It's a well-known playbook making millions for investors while pushing the burden onto middle class workers. But if that newly acquired business doesn't generate enough revenue to pay off the debt, the consequences can be catastrophic. It's a high-risk, high-reward game, and only the bravest are willing to play.
At the forefront of this highstakes deal is none other than Leon Black himself. He's laser focused on making as much money as possible for Drexel's clients. Their fate rests in his hands as he hunts for the best investment opportunities and negotiates favorable terms. The clock is ticking and the pressure is [music] mounting. However, Black remains calm and collected while working around the clock to ensure that everything goes according to plan. Finally, after weeks of intense negotiations and sleepless nights, the deal is done. And so effectively, Beatatric Foods is now in the hands of its new owners. Burnham Lambert's reputation as a major player in the world of highstakes finance. But for Black, the success of the Bear Tree Foods deal is just the beginning. He has firmly established his reputation as a dealmaker and now sets his sights on even bigger and bolder ventures. He wants to prove that he's truly one of the greatest financial masterminds of his generation. But little does Black know, his hard-fought victory is about to collapse like a house of cards.
On the 12th of May, Dennis Levan, a managing director in Drexel's M&A department, is charged with insider trading. The day in 1985, Levan traded on inside information in Nabiscoco stock. In other news today, the biggest name in Wall Street's insider trading scandal, Ivan Buuki, has finally appeared in court. He made hundreds of millions of dollars by buying and selling in companies just as they were about to be taken over. But Buki used inside information, as you know, a fine. And now he faces time in prison. It was a grimfaced Ivan Buuki who entered the federal courthouse in lower Manhattan today. Under an agreement with prosecutors, he plead guilty to a criminal charge of filing false information with the Securities and Exchange Commission. When approached with a plea deal, Bossi offers the kingpin to the SEC, Michael Millan. Bossi, facing several lifetimes in prison, makes a deal with prosecutors that includes accusing Milan of wrongdoing. Armed with the information provided by Bossi, the SEC launch their investigation into Milan. As the investigation heats up, Leon Black finds himself in a nerve-wracking situation. Leon's promising career is on the edge of destruction with the media pursuing him relentlessly. His every move is scrutinized as he fights to salvage his reputation, fortune, [music] and freedom. With the threat of prison looming, the stakes have never been higher.
In March of 1989, a grand jury indictes Milan on 98 felony counts. Among the charges, conspiracy under the racketeering law, fraud in the sale of securities, and insider training, using privileged information to make a profit at the expense of other investors. But finally, 3 years after the start of the investigation, his lawyer said he would plea bargain. Milan also agreed to pay $600 million in fines and restitution. But how much time he would spend in jail was a matter for the judge. She shocked Milan and rocked Wall Street by imposing a jail sentence of 10 years. Leon Black watches in horror as his mentor and friend Michael Milan is cuffed and escorted to prison. Black doesn't know it yet, but this will not be the last time he watches someone close to him disappear into a prison cell. Milan pleads guilty to six felony counts and is sentenced to 10 years in prison. A severe punishment for a man who has been at the top for so long. The once mighty Drexel Burnham Lambert crashes and burns, consumed by the flames of scandal and corruption. Once upon a time in the 80s, four men nearly destroyed Wall Street. Who were those four men? At the lower end is Dennis Seavine, an investment banker who was accused by the SEC of making $12.6 million in insider trading profits. Next up the rung, Martin Seagull. Then there was his co-conspirator, Ivan Buki. And finally, there was Michael Millan, the junk bond king.
The question of whether or not Leon Black is innocent in the Milan scandal remains complexed and unresolved. While Leon Black has not been implicated in any illegal activities related to the scandal, he did work closely under Milan's wing, and many wonder if he is a shrewd and calculating businessman who knows how to tow the line without crossing it. Some speculate that Black's focus on the business side of things may have kept him from getting involved in the illegal activities of Milan and his associates. It remains one of Wall Street's quieter mysteries. Was Black complicit in Milan's criminal empire, or just clever enough to sidestep it? For now, though, Black is focused on the next big thing.
Despite the fallout from the collapse, Leon Black refuses to be held back. He emerges from the ashes of the Draxol bankruptcy with a fire in his belly. Determined to rebuild and reclaim his position as a titan of the finance industry, Leon Black is now a man on a mission to build one of the largest financial institutions ever. Apollo Global Management. Leon Black along with other former Draxall employees Joshua Harris and Mark Rowan are plotting to disrupt the private equity landscape forever. Driven by an unsatable hunger for wealth and power, they found Apollo Global Management in 1990. I spent 13 years at Drexel Burnham Lambert rocket ship, going all over the universe. And then the last year was a disaster as the rocket crashed and burned. Out of those ashes, my partners and I founded Apollo about 4 months after Drexal's bankruptcy. Today, Apollo is known as one of the most ruthless firms in the high finance circles. A company that embodies the very essence of Wall Street and private equity. Bold, brash, and utterly ruthless.
The early 1990s are a time of upheaval in the American economy as the nation struggled to emerge from a deep recession. It's in this climate that Leon Black first encounters Jeffrey Epstein. Not in a boardroom, not across a negotiating table, but his friends. By then, Epstein is already more than just a financeier. He's a social operator with a growing network of powerful contacts. Since 1988, he's carved out a niche as a consultant to the elite, advising clients whose net worth starts [music] at $1 billion. Some of his clients are already global titans. Leon Black isn't there yet. He's still crawling his way up there. Black sees the '9s as his time of opportunity. That there were a lot of undervalued situations that existed going into a recession. A lot of distressed situations with very good assets. Two words, distressed assets, the discarded parts of companies that have fallen on hard times. A good companies with bad balance sheets. With prices at an all-time low and opportunities [music] abundant, the hunt is on for Apollo to turn these underdogs into winners. There were just a lot of undervalued situations that if you bought up the debt, you'd either make money on the debt or you would end up owning the companies.
Within six months after the collapse of Drexel, Apollo launches the Apollo Investment Fund LP, the first of its private equity investment funds, and Black and his team set out to make their mark on the world of distressed investing. Armed with $400 million in investor commitments, they are betting on their own reputation and expertise to turn struggling companies into gold mines. But as the financial world reels from the aftershock of the recession, little financing is available for the new ventures known as leverage buyouts. But Apollo refuses to be held back by the constraints of convention. Instead, they go ahead with a bold new strategy, the distress to control takeover. They set their sights on the most distressed of securities, determined to turn them into the price of a lifetime. But their real genius lies in what comes next. Taking control of the very companies they had set their sights on. With each new acquisition, they grow stronger, more powerful, and more feared. And as their portfolio expands to include iconic brands like Veil Resort, Walter Industries, and Culligan, the financial world watches in awe, knowing that a new king has risen to claim the throne. But the road to the top is never smooth. And with every new challenge, Leon Black must prove his worth and fight for his place at the table.
Apollo acquires interests in companies that Drexel had helped finance by purchasing high yield bonds from failed savings, loans, and insurance companies. Their latest venture involves the acquisition of Executive Life Insurance Company's bond portfolio. A move that can make or break the company. It is a risky move, but Black and his team are willing to take the chance. It isn't smooth sailing. They have to navigate a complex web [music] of regulatory issues and government scrutiny. One false move and their entire operation can come crashing down. But against all odds, Apollo emerges victorious. They purchase the Executive Life portfolio and when the value of high yield bonds finally recovers, they reap the rewards. The Executive Life deal is a turning point for Apollo and it cements their reputation as daring and successful investors. Investment Fund 3 is an instant success, raising a jaw-dropping $1.5 billion from some of the biggest investors in the world, including the General Motors Pension Fund, but they are just getting started. The firm's investment strategies expand to include everything from real estate and energy to healthcare, and they are making waves across various industries. In high finance circles, a lot of people have great respect for Apollo. Black and his team had an uncanny ability to identify undervalued assets and transform them into wildly profitable investments, leaving their competitors in the dust. But like in so many private equity deals, the flashy analysts walk away with bonuses while the everyday workers are left holding the bag. As a result, Apollo rises to become one of the most successful private equity firms of the 1990s and 2000s. Their names synonymous with bold investments and lucrative returns.
But these years also draw Leon Black deeper into the orbit of Jeffrey Epstein. The two are now growing closer and closer. We don't exactly know how close they became, but according to the Wall Street Journal. What we do know is this. 2003, it is Jeffrey Epstein's 50th birthday, Jiz Maxwell is preparing a special gift to mark the occasion. She turns to Epstein's family and friends. One of them is Leon Black. Maxwell collects letters from Black and dozens of Epstein's other associates for a birthday album, and they are more than happy to make Epstein's birthday extra special. The album had poems, photos, and greetings from business people, academics, Epstein's former girlfriends, and childhood pals. Epstein is at the height of his powers, and it's not until 2006 that his dark empire is getting the first cracks. Allegations that Epstein had been sexually abusing girls became public in 2006, and he was arrested for that year. As we now know, it would still take more than a decade until his world comes crashing down. But while one man's dark empire is in demise, Leon Black is still busy building his own. He finally turns Apollo into a global powerhouse. In 2010, they make their biggest acquisition to date, buying Dutch chemical company Lionol Bassel for a whopping $19 billion. This set the stage for their global [music] expansion. In 2013, they acquire Macroill Education, a major player in the education industry. In 2016, they acquire ADT, a top tier provider of security and automation solutions for homes and businesses. As Apollo makes its move into the lucrative home security market, Leon Black stands at the helm. His unparalleled leadership and ruthless investment tactics has transformed Apollo Global Management into a juggernaut. It seems to Black that he is invincible. But what happens next threatens to bring him crashing down. The world is about to witness a catastrophic fall from grace unlike anything they've ever seen before.
Multi-millionaire investment manager Jeffrey Epstein has been arrested for alleged trafficking of miners in Florida and New York. In 2021 comes the bombshell revelation that rocks the financial world to its core. There was something happening here that was bigger than just Jeffrey Epstein. Leon Black paid something like $158 million to Epstein over the course of 2012 to 2017. Leon Black wired Epstein about $50 million in 2008 after Epstein was convicted of soliciting prostitution from teenage girls. A consultancy firm that manages or helps manage rather about $ [music] 160 billion worth of investments has told its clients, "Do not put money with Apollo." The news sends shock waves through the world. The public outrage is massive and the media frenzy relentless as new details of Leon Black's association with Jeffrey Epstein come to light.
What did Epstein do for Leon Black to earn $170 million from him? Ask Black himself, estate planning and tax advice. But there is a little catch. Epstein was neither a licensed tax attorney nor a certified public accountant. I just did estate planning and I know some of these estate planners that are the high-end estate planners that deal with billionaires. Who the hell has ever spent $158 million on estate planning services? $170 million for tax advice from a man globally infamous for trafficking minor. But that payment takes us straight to the core of a mystery. How a man with no formal tax credentials became one of the richest tax advisers in the world.
At the time of his mysterious death in 2019, Jeffrey Epstein was a fabulously wealthy man. Two private Caribbean islands, a portfolio of lavish homes, and roughly $380 million in cash and investments. Total net worth, $578 million, astronomical to most average Americans. But small change next to the Larry Finnins, George Soros's, and Leon Blacks of the world. buy power on a geopolitical scale. And yet Epstein was considered one of the most powerful figures in elite social circles. Why? How he became so powerful and rich is at the heart of all of the Epstein scandal. The official story claims Epstein's sex crimes had nothing to do with his day job as a financial adviser to billionaires offering investment, estate, and tax planning. In a 2013 corporate filing, Epstein called himself an experienced and successful financeier and businessman, [music] an entrepreneur who has built several highly profitable companies, one of the pioneers of derivative and option-based investing. That was the resume Leon Black trusted with his taxes and wealth planning.
But the whisperers in the financial world tell a different story than Black. The former Apollo board member alluded to hush money paid to keep darker secrets buried. Many believe Epstein secretly recorded his powerful guests in compromising acts with trafficked miners. Blackmail them. His financial business serving as a perfect cover. Epstein didn't just collect connections, he collected leverage. His little black book wasn't a contact list, it was a weapon. The exact origins of his fortune remain shrouded in mystery. But what is clear, Epstein relied on two billionaires above all others. Leslie H. Wexner, founder of Victoria's Secret, and the second one is none other than Leon Black. From 1999 to 2018, Epstein's two main businesses generated more than $800 million in revenue. At least $490 million came directly to him in fees. Wexner and Black provided more than 75% of that fee income. For nearly two decades, those two clients were his financial lifeline. Which means Leon Black wasn't just a client. He was critical to Epstein's empire. He was the client. And when that fact became public, the fallout was instant. Black's reputation crumbled and his name is forever linked to one of the most notorious offenders in modern history. Hollow Global Management announcing uh that Leon Black will step down as its CEO. This coming after um an investigation into uh Black's dealings with Jeffrey Epstein. He stepped down as CEO, but the questions haven't gone away. So, now we're left to wonder how many more paid Epstein for so-called estate planning or tax advice. The answer might be just around the corner.
Remember Epstein's 50th birthday in 2003 and the letterbound album filled with notes from powerful friends. This is what Leon Black wrote to [music] him. Blonde, red, or brunette, spread out geographically with this net of fish. Jeff's now the old man and the sea. Love and kisses, Leon. Wall Street and far beyond. Some even say his business is killing babies. An empire built in darkness, powerful enough to move markets and bend the country to its will. Click here to learn about the arguably most controversial billionaire in the