Leon Black

Leon David Black (born July 31, 1951) is an American private equity investor. He is the former CEO of Apollo Global Management, which he co-founded in 1990 with Marc Rowan and Josh Harris. Black was the chairman of the Museum of Modern Art from 2018 to 2021. Early life and education Black is a son of Eli M. Black (1921–1975), a Jewish businessman who emigrated from Poland as a child (surname, "Blachowitz") and was known for owning and being chairman of the United Brands Company. His mother, Shirley Lubell (sister of Tulsa oil executive Benedict I. Lubell) was an artist. In 1975, his father committed suicide, jumping out of a window in his 44th floor office in the Pan Am Building in New York City. It was later made public that, at the time, federal regulators were investigating allegations that United Brands was bribing Honduran government officials with Black's authorization to gain a major reduction in banana export taxes paid by the company; United Brands contended that it was a victim of extortion in Honduras. Black received an AB in philosophy and history from Dartmouth College in 1973 and a MBA from Harvard University in 1975. He served on the Board of Trustees of Dartmouth College from 2002 to 2011. In 2012, Black gave US$48 million toward a new visual arts center at Dartmouth College. Career Black started out as an accountant at Peat Marwick (which later became KPMG) and with the publisher Boardroom Reports. He also interviewed at Lehman Brothers but was told he did not have the brains or personality to succeed on Wall Street. From 1977 to 1990, Black was employed by investment bank Drexel Burnham Lambert, where he rose to managing director and head of the Mergers & Acquisitions Group, and co-head of the Corporate Finance Department. At Drexel, Black was regarded as "junk bond king" Michael Milken's right-hand man.