Marc Rowan

Marc Rowan is an American businessman who serves as chairman and chief executive officer of Apollo Global Management, a private equity and asset management firm he co-founded in 1990 alongside Josh Harris and Leon Black. Following Black’s resignation as CEO, Rowan formally assumed the role in March 2021, and Apollo’s assets under management crossed $1 trillion for the first time in the first quarter of 2026. He should not be confused with co-founder Leon Black, a separate person whose paid relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is documented in greater detail elsewhere on this site.

Rowan’s documented appearance in the Epstein material centers on emails from roughly 2013 to 2016. According to The Daily Pennsylvanian, reporting February 2, 2026, Rowan “remained in contact with Epstein between 2013 and 2016,” and a September 2013 email exchange “arranged a meeting between members of Apollo Global Management — including ‘Leon’ and ‘Josh’ — and Epstein on Oct. 22, 2013.” The same report describes a January 2016 message in which “Epstein’s assistant emailed Irene for details on potentially purchasing Rowan’s private jet,” asking for “the details of Marc’s plane for sale … the hours, photos, any pertinent information!” The Philadelphia Inquirer, reporting January 30, 2026, adds that “a representative for the jet company offered Epstein the Gulfstream G450 for $18.9 million, noting it was in ‘immaculate condition,’” and that “the plane ultimately was sold to another buyer.” The Inquirer notes that a spokesperson for Rowan declined to comment.

The material also touches firm tax matters. The released documents include a 2016 email exchange in which Rowan and Epstein discussed a potential Apollo corporate inversion, and a separate instance in which Rowan forwarded internal Apollo correspondence to Epstein relating to a tax matter. InvestmentNews, reporting in May 2026, similarly states that “Rowan forwarded a detailed internal calculation of Apollo’s tax receivable agreement to Epstein in March 2016” and that “Epstein was involved in 2016 talks about a possible tax inversion that would have redomiciled Apollo overseas.” Reporting on the released files also indicates that an independent review by the law firm Dechert “found no evidence that Rowan or co-founder Josh Harris had hired Epstein or consulted with him on personal matters.”

Rowan and Apollo have disputed the characterization of any relationship. According to reporting on the released files, Rowan and Apollo responded with a letter to clients stating that neither Rowan nor anyone else at the firm other than Black had a personal or business relationship with Epstein, while acknowledging that in limited instances Rowan and other employees had provided information to Epstein in connection with his personal tax advisory work for Black. The Daily Pennsylvanian quotes Apollo as saying that “while Mr. Epstein sought to do work with the Apollo co-founders other than Mr. Black, Mr. Rowan had neither a business nor any other relationship with Mr. Epstein,” and that “Apollo never did any business with Mr. Epstein.” In Touch Weekly, in a report republished by Yahoo Finance dated March 3, 2026, quotes Rowan as saying of Epstein in a Bloomberg interview, “I didn’t like him for my own reasons, he wasted my time. Even from the grave, he’s wasting my time,” and quotes an Apollo statement attributed to president James Zelter that “Neither Marc Rowan nor anyone else at Apollo (excluding Leon Black) had either a business or personal relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.”

Shareholders have sued Apollo, Rowan and Black in federal court in Manhattan, alleging the firm misrepresented its relationship with Epstein in regulatory filings. InvestmentNews reports that an earlier class action was “filed March 2 in the Southern District of New York” and targets the firm “alongside CEO Marc Rowan and co-founder Leon Black,” claiming Apollo’s public statements that it “never did any business with Jeffrey Epstein” were false. InvestmentNews separately identifies a case as Perez v. Apollo Global Management, Inc., et al., No. 1:26-cv-03550, “filed April 29, 2026 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.”

Is Marc Rowan in the Epstein files?

Yes, in a documented but limited and largely indirect sense. Released Epstein documents include 2013–2016 emails in which Rowan’s name appears — among them a January 2016 inquiry by Epstein about buying Rowan’s private jet, a 2016 exchange about a potential Apollo corporate inversion, and an instance in which Rowan forwarded internal Apollo tax correspondence to Epstein — as reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer, The Daily Pennsylvanian and InvestmentNews. Much of the documented connection runs through Apollo and through co-founder Leon Black, whose paid tax-advisory relationship with Epstein is the more extensively documented one. Rowan and Apollo say that neither he nor anyone at the firm other than Black had a business or personal relationship with Epstein, and that any contact concerned Epstein’s tax work for Black. Rowan has not been charged with any crime, and being named in these documents is not evidence of any crime or wrongdoing.

Evidence

These passages are drawn from the 2013–2016 Epstein emails released by the U.S. Department of Justice, as reported by The Daily Pennsylvanian, the Philadelphia Inquirer and InvestmentNews; the annotations connect each to what this profile states, including Rowan’s and Apollo’s denials.

Read the originals: DOJ Epstein Files (EFTA release) ↗

Documents

Primary-source records that reference Marc Rowan. Inclusion in these documents is not, by itself, evidence of wrongdoing; Rowan and Apollo say that neither he nor anyone at the firm other than Leon Black had a business or personal relationship with Epstein.

• DOJ Epstein Files (EFTA release) — The Department of Justice’s release of Epstein records includes the 2013–2016 emails in which Rowan is referenced: a September 2013 message arranging an Apollo meeting with Epstein, a January 2016 inquiry by Epstein’s office about purchasing Rowan’s private jet, a 2016 exchange about a potential Apollo corporate inversion, and a March 2016 message in which Rowan forwarded an internal Apollo tax calculation to Epstein. The Philadelphia Inquirer (Jan. 30, 2026) and The Daily Pennsylvanian (Feb. 2, 2026) reported these contacts from the DOJ release of Epstein documents. Apollo says any such contact related to Epstein’s tax-advisory work for Black.