US billionaire Leon Black, who maintained a relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has bought a mansion in London, the Financial Times reported. According to the outlet, the investor shelled out $28.2 million for the luxury house located at 93 Eaton Square, which is $2.6 million less than the asking price, the newspaper said.
The mansion has four bedrooms, three reception rooms, six bedroom suites, a modern family kitchen, mews kitchen, eight bathrooms as well as a garage and a garden. Beauchamp Estates, the selling agents, have declined to comment on the deal.
The news comes at a difficult time for Leon Black, who this year stepped down as CEO of Apollo, a private equity firm he co-founded, over his links to Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein was charged with running a sex trafficking network of minors in 2019, with dozens of women accusing him of sexual abuse and rape.
Black and Epstein have known each other for decades and the late financier advised Black on estate planning and taxes. After the Epstein sex scandal broke out, Black wrote a letter to investors of Apollo, saying he had a "limited relationship" with the sex offender. In 2020, he asked the company to conduct an independent review of his relationship with the late financier. The investigation revealed that between 2012 and 2017 Black paid him a total of $148 million for financial services and donated another $10 million to Epstein’s charity.
This was after Epstein’s first criminal case, which saw him plead guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail and was ordered to register as a sex offender.
The investigation, however, did not find any evidence that Leon Black was involved in Epstein’s criminal activities. Following the release of the inquiry he stepped down as Apollo’s CEO and voiced regret over having had any involvement with Epstein.
In September, a woman accused Black of raping her in Epstein’s mansion.
The news comes at a difficult time for Leon Black, who this year stepped down as CEO of Apollo, a private equity firm he co-founded, over his links to Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein was charged with running a sex trafficking network of minors in 2019, with dozens of women accusing him of sexual abuse and rape.
Black and Epstein have known each other for decades and the late financier advised Black on estate planning and taxes. After the Epstein sex scandal broke out, Black wrote a letter to investors of Apollo, saying he had a "limited relationship" with the sex offender. In 2020, he asked the company to conduct an independent review of his relationship with the late financier. The investigation revealed that between 2012 and 2017 Black paid him a total of $148 million for financial services and donated another $10 million to Epstein’s charity.
This was after Epstein’s first criminal case, which saw him plead guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail and was ordered to register as a sex offender.
The investigation, however, did not find any evidence that Leon Black was involved in Epstein’s criminal activities. Following the release of the inquiry he stepped down as Apollo’s CEO and voiced regret over having had any involvement with Epstein.
In September, a woman accused Black of raping her in Epstein’s mansion.