In September 2016, long before his deep ties to Jeffrey Epstein were revealed, billionaire Leon Black mingled blissfully with Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner and Princess Eugenie in a prized box at the US Open.
At the time, he was a titan of Wall Street and pillar of NYC society.
Ivanka was due to become a first daughter, Jared was about to land a role in the White House, and Eugenie’s father, Prince Andrew, had yet to be questioned on television about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.
Epstein was still alive and operating the sex trafficking ring that put his friend Ghislaine Maxwell behind bars for 20 years, and which continues to haunt his friends and associates.
Leon Black (top, center) with Princess Eugenie (upper right), Wendi Deng (top second from left), Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, Michael Hess, David Geffen, Dasha Zhukova and Karlie Kloss in September 2016 at the US Open
Black sits between Karlie Kloss and Jared Kushner during the 2016 tennis match
Eugenie with Michael Hess, who is married to Meghan Markle boyfriend Mischa Nonoo, at the US Open match with Deng, Zhukova and Kloss
Black, 72, is now accused of raping two women in Epstein’s home in 2002 – claims he strongly denies.
He is also being questioned about his $158 million payments to Jeffrey Epstein and his $62 million payment to U.S. Virgin Islands prosecutors in their pursuit of damages for Epstein’s victims.
Black, who is still married to his socialite wife Debra, has also admitted to having an affair with a Russian model who says he violently assaulted her before getting her to agree to an NDA deal in 2015 $20 million.
Despite his repeated insistence that he is innocent of any wrongdoing, the walls seem to be closing in.
He stepped down from his hugely successful firm Apollo in 2021 after the extent of his relationship with Epstein became apparent, but is now facing more scrutiny and shame for his long-standing relationship with the late pedophile.
Black has until September to cooperate with the Senate Finance Committee investigating his payments to Epstein.
His reps insist his payments to Epstein were overboard.
Donald Trump with Leon Black in Russia in the 1990s on a business trip
Black with wife Debra in 2007. Before his relationship with Epstein became public knowledge, he was president of MoMA
Epstein and Black with Pepe Fanjul. Fanjul only met Epstein once and before Epstein was charged
He says he paid Epstein for tax and estate planning services, foolishly believing he thought it would legally save him money.
In 2021, Black stepped down from Apollo after his relationship with Epstein was investigated by internal investigators.
He was also charged with rape and violent assault at the time by Guzen Ganieva, a Russian model with whom he had had an affair.
In 2015, Ganieva signed a non-disclosure agreement Black gave her, agreeing not to talk about their relationship.
He agreed to pay her $100,000 a month for 16 years — a deal that would have made her a total of $20 million — as long as she kept quiet.
The same month they closed their deal, he donated $10 million to Gratitude America, a charity run by Epstein that hadn’t raised a dime until Black’s donation.
Black’s wife Debra with Josh Black and Victoria Black, two of their four adult children
When Ganieva received her first $100,000, it was deposited into her account from a mysterious “E Trust.”
Black agreed to pay his mistress Guzel Ganieva $20 million over 16 years to keep her quiet
Every other payment she had received from Black had come from an account with his name on it, she said.
Ganieva eventually sued Black for defamation after he denied the rape claim she first made on Twitter.
However, a judge sided with him and dismissed the case.
In November 2022, he was sued by Cheri Pierson, a former receptionist who said he raped her in Epstein’s Upper East Side home in 2022.
That case is still pending.
In July, he was sued by a now 30-year-old woman who claims he raped her when she was 16 at Epstein’s home.
The woman has Down’s mosaic syndrome.
She said Black forcibly sodomized her on a massage table in Epstein’s home — a claim he has vehemently denied through his lawyers.
They say he hasn’t even met the woman in question.
Black, photographed in 2019, has denied all allegations