Former Apollo CEO Leon Black Sells Beverly Hills Home

Financier Leon Black has sold his Beverly Hills home for close to $50 million.

The former Apollo Global Management CEO offloaded the property at 1111 Calle Vista Drive to an undisclosed buyer for approximately $47 million, the Wall Street Journal reported. The house was not publicly listed and was being advertised off-market, local real estate agents told the publication.

Black and his wife Debra, acting through a limited liability company, acquired the home from “Mission: Impossible” star Tom Cruise in 2016 for $38 million, according to property records cited by the Journal. Cruise bought the house in 2007 from developer and real estate agent Kurt Rappaport for $30.5 million. Rappaport represented the buyer in the transaction.

The Blacks opted to sell the home because the couple rarely used it, a spokesperson told the Journal. “They had two adult children who were living and working in L.A. for a period of time, but both have returned to New York and so the house was no longer of need,” the representative said.

Black sold the home as the private equity investor faces heightened scrutiny for his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Earlier this month, the House Oversight Committee investigating the Epstein files asked Black to testify before committee members on his ties to the late sex offender; he has agreed to the request.

Previously, Black has faced probes by the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Senate Finance Committee for his links to Epstein. In 2023, he paid a $62.5 million settlement to the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Epstein’s Little Saint James island is located, the New York Times reported.

Black resigned from his CEO role at Apollo in 2021. A review by Dechert, a law firm hired by Apollo, found he had paid Epstein $158 million for his services, though there was no evidence that Black was involved in Epstein’s criminal activities. Black in the past has stated that he paid Epstein for tax and estate planning and was not aware of his criminal activities and regrets associating with him.

— Chris Malone Méndez