Josh Harris Stepping Down from Day-to-Day Role at Apollo Global Management
This story has been floating around for a little bit but now the news is official.
Apollo Global Management Inc (APO.N) said on Thursday co-founder Josh Harris has decided to step down from his day-to-day role as managing director on completion of the private-equity giant’s deal with Athene Holding Ltd (ATH.N).
Harris will “return to his roots” as an investor and entrepreneur, Apollo said, adding that he will remain on the company’s board and its executive committee.
The change comes after co-founder Leon Black in March stepped down from his executive roles at the private-equity firm, a surprise move that capped a series of corporate governance changes triggered by a review of his ties to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Epstein eh? Talk about a guy you don’t want to be connected with.
Harris, the Sixers’ co-owner, excuse me, “governor,” has been with Apollo for 31 years. He was part of the group that bought the Sixers from Comcast-Spectacor in 2011 and went on to form Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment, which also operates the New Jersey Devils, The Prudential Center, and some other sports properties.
Here are some interesting passages from a Bloomberg story on this move:
For years, Harris had positioned himself as Black’s most likely successor, frequently representing Apollo at conferences and in the media. He was seen as having a tighter relationship with Black, 69, and deemed the top contender for the role.
But Black surprised insiders in January by handing the top job to Rowan, after Harris privately urged Black to give up his posts to avoid further damaging Apollo’s reputation, Bloomberg has reported.
….
The past year has been a tumultuous one for Apollo. Black’s financial ties with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened fundraising as some investors put their commitments on hold. Harris’s shift could further complicate efforts to move on from the drama because he’s a “key man” on Apollo’s flagship buyout fund, which means investments would be put on pause without him.
…
An outside review found that Black paid Epstein $158 million from 2012 to 2017 for tax and estate planning services. Those payments came after Epstein’s 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a teenage girl. Black has never been accused of involvement in his criminal activities and Apollo has said it never did business with Epstein.
Hmm.. alright. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if anything more comes from the Black/Epstein thing.
Beyond that, all of this financial mumbo jumbo probably goes in one ear and out the other. The question is how does this affect the Sixers? It really doesn’t. Harris is still a billionaire. The Bloomberg article says he is considering making Florida his primary residence, so the helicopter ride to Camden will become a plane ride. Otherwise, he’ll launch something new and continue to roll in money and things will continue as normal.
And I know Harris isn’t wildly popular among Sixers fans, but after last year’s sweep, he fired Brett Brown and got Doc Rivers and Daryl Morey on board, and now the team is the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference as we begin the postseason.