NewsNews|Jul 12, 2026
jlaconte@vaildaily.com
Apollo Global Management co-founder Leon Black, in testifying to the House Oversight Committee on June 26, insisted he committed no criminal wrongdoing in paying $158 million to Jeffrey Epstein.
Black is the 16th person to appear before the committee as part of a broader investigation into the web of wealth and influence around Epstein. Before entering the closed-door deposition, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., the House committee chairman, told reporters he believed it might be the most “groundbreaking” yet.
“This could be a pretty significant deposition as we try to get answers,” Comer said.
Apollo Global Management spinoff Apollo Ski Partnersbecame the majority shareholderof Vail Associates in 1992 after former owner George Gillett declared bankruptcy on the company.
Gillett was heavily leveraged following the junk bond boom, having financed many of his acquisitions through the Drexel Burnham Lambert firm. After Michael Milken — known as the “junk bond king,” the firm’s high-yield bond chief — pleaded guilty to securities and reporting violations, Drexel faced mounting legal and financial pressure that culminated in its 1990 bankruptcy. Black, one of Milken’s top deputies, and future Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz both worked at Drexel before Black cofounded Apollo Advisors, where Katz also went on to work. Milken was later pardoned by President Donald Trump in 2020.
Black founded a spin-off company, Apollo Ski Partners, which took over Vail Associates when Gillett couldn’t pay off the debt on the notes from Milken. Gillett Holdings filed for Chapter 11 in 1991, and Apollo Ski Partners became the majority shareholder of the company in 1992. Katz began overseeing the investment in 1991 and joined the Vail Resorts board in 1996.
The company went public in 1997, trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol MTN, and Katz became CEO in 2006.
Black left the Vail Resorts board in 2002, and Apollo sold off its majority share in 2004. Black stepped down from Apollo in 2021 amid fallout over his ties to Epstein.
Epsteinowned a home in Vailand the Epstein files contain numerous mentions of Vail; one itinerary details plans for a Feb. 10, 2018 ski trip to Snowmass andcontains the note“Company to drive the girls from Vail to Aspen.”
Black maintained on June 26 that he was not aware of Epstein’s “nefarious activity” until 2019 and that he paid Epstein for legitimate purposes, in part due to his “unrivaled network of relationships” with influential figures.
“I knew Jekyll. I didn’t know Hyde,” Black said.
The Guardian, on June 26,reportedthat the closed-door hearing ended abruptly “after members from both parties said Black refused to answer questions about non-disclosure agreements.”
Comer told reporters the committee has issued Black another subpoenas to appear again before the committee next month, the Guardian reported.
