Ex-SEC Chairman Jay Clayton joins Apollo board amid Jeffrey Epstein reckoning
Apollo Global is getting a big name to fix its big problem.
The private equity giant on Thursday named former Securities
and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton as its lead independent director
as the firm continues to reckon with the fallout from founder Leon Black’s ties
to Jeffrey Epstein.
An independent investigation at the $455 billion firm
revealed in January that billionaire Black paid the sex criminal — who
committed suicide in prison in August 2019 — $158 million between 2013 and 2017
for professional advice on tax audits, wealth management and estate planning.
Since Epstein had no formal legal or financial training,
that explanation left legal experts scratching their heads. Black, 69,
announced that he will step down as CEO in July but will nevertheless remain
the chairman of Apollo’s board.
Clayton, 54, left the SEC in December and will return to the
white-shoe law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, where he was a partner
representing clients like Goldman Sachs before Donald Trump tapped him to be
Wall Street’s top sheriff.
Lead independent directors often act as something of a check
on the chairman of a corporate board, giving shareholders a voice and keeping
an eye on how the chairman executes his duties.
Reports swirled in January that Black’s co-founders Josh
Harris and Marc Rowan had pushed for Black to leave the firm entirely in the
wake of the Epstein revelations, but that a tense agreement was reached in
which Rowan would take over as chief but letting Black stay on as chairman.
Black said Thursday that he welcomes Clayton’s addition to
Apollo.
“I am pleased to welcome Jay Clayton as Lead Independent
Director of Apollo,” Black said in a statement. “We undertook a thoughtful and
deliberate process and are proud to have someone as distinguished as Jay serve
in this newly created role that reflects the strong corporate governance
enhancements we continue to implement.”
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