Latest / The Epstein Chronicles / Mega Edition: Marc Rowan And Leon Black Outmaneuver Josh Harris To Keep Control At Apollo (6/30/26)

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Mega Edition: Marc Rowan And Leon Black Outmaneuver Josh Harris To Keep Control At Apollo (6/30/26) · The Epstein Chronicles

0:01
Speaker 1: This morning, we're gonna dive right back into the Leon
0:05
Black topic. From the very beginning of this whole entire
0:10
ordeal with Leon Black, I told you that inside of
0:15
the boardroom there was a major power struggle underway between
0:19
Josh Smith and Leon Black. Well, today in Cranes, New York,
0:28
they're going into a bit of detail about what is
0:32
going on behind the scenes. Now, you know me, I'm
0:37
not one of these people that runs around talking about,
0:40
oh I have sources everywhere, because I don't. But when
0:44
it comes to the financial world and it comes to
0:46
Wall Street, I happen to have a few former colleagues
0:50
who I still keep in contact with, who have their
0:52
ear to the ground and who told me that this
0:56
was coming. And I relayed that to you folks as well.
1:00
There was no way that someone like Josh Smith was
1:03
going to be sidelined by these guys, and there wasn't
1:07
going to be some sort of boardroom bruhaha kicked into
1:13
gear because Smith is in some sort of you know,
1:16
meek go quietly into the night kind of cat right.
1:19
We're talking about sharks in the water, and all of
1:23
these guys are you know, alpha predators. I mean when
1:28
we talk about gray characters and no good guys. We're
1:32
certainly talking about the financial world. But my former colleagues,
1:37
friends of mine, acquaintances, said that there was serious issues
1:43
going on at Apollo in that boardroom, and that there
1:45
was a huge, huge, power struggle going on behind the scenes,
1:49
even if the investors and the employees said otherwise, because
1:57
they don't want that kind of struggle blasted all over
1:59
the world, right, they don't want that publicized, so their
2:03
investors get shook. We're talking about billions and billions and
2:06
billions of dollars in investments, folks. The last thing you
2:11
want to do is look like you're inconsistent when it
2:13
comes to management. So they tried to keep this under wraps.
2:17
They tried to keep everything on the hush hush, right.
2:21
No way, when you have a company as big as
2:24
Apollo and they have such a market share, well, things
2:30
get out right. You can't keep the the ship air tight.
2:34
So there was rumors of this for several months now
2:37
and even longer that Josh Smith was angling to get
2:41
rid of Leon Black. And it looks like during the
2:45
power struggle, even though Black has had to step back
2:49
and resign his positions, and stuff. It looks like Leon
2:52
Black came out on top here of folks, because Smith
2:57
had to end up taking a back seat. Right, So
3:01
once again, Leon Black, even from behind the scenes, still
3:06
seems to be pulling the strings and this infighting, this
3:14
battle within the boardroom. I honestly don't think it's going
3:17
to end anytime soon. Josh Smith is not the pack
3:22
it up and go home kind of guy, folks. So
3:27
from what I'm hearing and from what we know as
3:31
far as what's been reported publicly, it certainly looks like
3:35
this whole entire Apollo global situation and the nuclear fallout
3:40
that's hanging over Apollo and Leon Black isn't going anywhere
3:47
anytime soon. So today we have an article from Cranes,
3:53
New York headline a brawl between billionaire founders out Apollo
3:59
sidelines one of its own. So this article was originally
4:05
published in Bloomberg, so it was being it's being rerun
4:11
here on on Cranes. So originally published the Bloomberg being
4:20
rerun here on Cranes. Alright, So this article was authored
4:26
by Sabrina Wilmer, Heather Pearlberg, and Shri Dar Natarajan, and
4:36
it originally appeared in Bloomberg three months after Josh Harris
4:42
made his failed pitch to take Leon Black's crown atop
4:45
a four hundred and fifty five billion dollar investing juggernaut.
4:50
Black's chosen Air is in charge and Harris is on
4:54
the outs. And we you know, we've been talking about this, right,
4:59
how with a power struggle like this and the egos
5:02
that we're dealing with, there was no way that Harris
5:05
was just going to sit down and accept being shoved out.
5:09
The youngest of the three, a guy that is very vibrant,
5:15
very active on sports teams, shit like that, right, super
5:18
Alpha mal. There was no way he was going to
5:20
just be pushed to the side, and there wasn't going
5:24
to be any sort of clapback from him. And we
5:27
talked about this months ago when all of this was
5:31
first breaking. Behind the scenes drama between Apollo Global Management
5:37
Incorporated's billionaire co founders keeps brewing with ramifications for investors
5:43
as the company reconfigures its governance this year. Yeah, look,
5:49
this is certainly factual according to my sources and the
5:52
people I've talked to and the people I know that
5:55
are on the ground in the financial district one hundred percent.
6:00
There is a huge battle brewing, a huge battle brewing. Publicly,
6:08
Harris has endorsed the decision to elevate co founder Mark
6:11
Rowan to chief executive officer. Privately, he's being sidelined even
6:17
as he remains a key man in Apollo's flagship fund,
6:21
meaning investments could stall without him. And that is factual
6:25
as well. Smith is a huge, huge part of the
6:31
flagship fund, meaning their biggest fund, you know, where a
6:35
big majority of their money comes from. That's all Harris.
6:41
And with this infighting, the people who are really going
6:44
to suffer are going to be the investors eventually, because
6:48
how long is confidence going to stand at a level
6:51
where Apollo is considered a juggernaut If there's all of
6:56
this infighting, there's all of this instability, have Leon Black
7:01
trying to pull the strings from the shadows. Why would
7:04
anyone want to invest billions of dollars with this company?
7:10
People close to the company, speaking on the condition they
7:13
not be identified, said Harris has relinquished day to day
7:16
handling of operations. He's less involved in dealmaking than before,
7:21
with underlings generally seeking his sign off for only the
7:24
largest transactions outside Apollo. He's been shopping for a house
7:29
in Florida to potentially serve as his primary residence, which
7:33
would lower his tax bill if he starts to draw
7:36
down the wealth he's amassed at the company. So the
7:39
writing's on the wall right, certainly looks like Josh Smith
7:42
is going to be making an exit from Apollo Global.
7:47
That's huge news, folks in the financial world, and it'll
7:50
send shockwaves again. Apollo Global has always been this three
7:55
headed monster of Rowan, Smith, and Black, and they all
7:58
complimented that the each each other well as far as
8:01
business goes, right. But now you see that starting to fracture,
8:07
and you see, you know, people taking sides, and you know,
8:14
factions being formed, and it's almost like what you would
8:18
see in the Roman Senate back in the day. Right
8:21
you had you know, Mark Anthony, you had POMPEII, you
8:24
had Caesar. Wasn't gonna work, right, You can't have all
8:29
of those egos. Eventually, someone's gonna have to come out
8:31
on top. And if that means the proverbial knife fight
8:35
in the boardroom, then so be it. That's what these
8:38
people will engage in. Folks. We're talking about billions and
8:41
billions of dollars. Those amount the start changes for Harris
8:49
fifty six, who for three decades has been known for
8:52
working marathon hours and making his presence known throughout the
8:56
New York based private equity firm, running operations and pressing
9:00
employees on the details of their deals. And you could
9:03
see that he's checked out. Right. He goes from being
9:06
involved in all of these decisions and deals being made
9:10
by his employees in his division to taking a step
9:12
back and letting his underlings take the wheel. And that's
9:18
when you know somebody like this is checking out because
9:22
people like this, Remember how many times do we talk
9:24
about this part of it? Right? People in power like
9:27
this never seed power on their own. It has to
9:29
be taken from them. And Smith it certainly looks like
9:34
he's mapping his exit. His decreased involvement has come with
9:40
a sense of relief for some. When the topic arose recently,
9:44
employees under Harris were heard humming their response, ding dong,
9:48
the witch is dead from the Wizard of Oz. Isn't
9:51
that cute? All of these stockbrokers have such a rough life.
9:56
All of you investors in hedgees, Oh, your boss is
9:59
mean to you. If you shut up as you go
10:01
and cash that ten million dollar check. Nobody cares, all right,
10:05
nobody cares. I certainly don't have any empathy for these people.
10:10
They're being compensated quite fairly. Insiders privately predict Harris will
10:18
formally take a more limited role or even leave in
10:21
the coming year or so, devoting more time to outside
10:24
business interests that include a stable of professional sports franchises.
10:29
And we talked about this as well. Harris has all
10:32
of these different options, right, He's a younger guy, fifty
10:35
six years old, still has his whole life ahead of
10:37
him pretty much. Well, I even bother dealing with your
10:41
idiot moron colleagues at Apollo when you can just cash
10:45
out and ride off into the sunset. And if I
10:48
was Smith, that's what I would do. I would leave
10:50
Apollo holding the bag. I'd cash out all of my assets.
10:54
I'd move my happy ass to a place with no
10:56
state income tax like Florida, or might I suggest the
11:00
beautiful state of Nevada, and I'll be a wrap. I'd
11:04
be done with it. When you have that kind of money,
11:08
you write your own story, folks. That's why it always
11:12
cracks me up when you find these billionaires that are
11:14
in these sorts of situations and they're whining about it. Bitch,
11:16
you have enough money to build a rocket ship and
11:18
leave the planet. Do you can leave whatever job you're at,
11:22
whatever company you're at, and kick your feed up for
11:25
the rest of your life with all the money you've
11:26
already made. A spokesman for Harris declined the comment for
11:32
this article, referring to a statement Harris issued in January
11:36
when Apollo announced plans to eventually make rowan fifty eight CEO.
11:41
Harris said he would help expand the search for investor returns,
11:44
develop the company's platform, and continue working with limited partners
11:49
and investors. We knew that was bs at the time.
11:52
We knew that it was lip service, right, Harris just
11:54
trying to make things smooth and not have the appearance
11:58
of there being any sort of frik in the boardroom.
12:01
But it never settled right. It was never a situation
12:08
where you looked at it and you're like, oh, yeah,
12:10
he's just gonna accept this. At least I didn't. I
12:13
knew that Smith wasn't just going to sit back and
12:17
accept being absolutely railroaded by these guys nudging Black. Many
12:24
of the private equity's world's most successful firms are in
12:28
the midst of trying to pass power from founding CEOs
12:31
to new teams, hoping not to alarm investors concerned about
12:35
maintaining historic returns. It's a process that's proved fraught, as
12:40
executives' ambitions to rail efforts to replicate the original chemistry.
12:46
At Carlisle Group Incorporated. For example, an attempt to hand
12:50
the reins to co chiefs Kusong Lee and Glenn Youngkin
12:54
ended with Lee taking sole control last year and Youngkin
12:58
gone eventually running for governor of Virginia. And that's what
13:02
it all comes down to, right, guys, Come on, let's
13:03
be real ego ego, ego, ego and clashes of personality.
13:08
When you have alpha dogs like this, they don't want
13:10
to take a secondary role. Nobody's rolling over and showing
13:13
you their belly. At this level of power, if you
13:17
want to be in charge of the pack, you better
13:19
take that power. And that's what we see here. Rowan
13:25
and Black end around on Smith and pulled the old
13:28
Oaki dokie on him. But at the famously bare knuckled Apollo,
13:35
the process was all the more rapid and tumultuous Black,
13:39
long synonymous with its public image, faced mounting scrutiny through
13:44
twenty twenty over his private business dealings with Jeffrey Epstein,
13:48
the notorious sex offender who killed himself allegedly in jail.
13:54
In January, a Border review found Black had paid one
13:57
hundred and fifty eight million dollars to Epstein for services
14:02
including tax advice and estate planning. And we know that's
14:05
not just it. We know that he's also facing his
14:07
own allegations of sexual impropriety. What we're just going to
14:13
forget about that? That doesn't that doesn't add up. I mean,
14:17
come on, I hate when they omit things from these articles.
14:23
Lies of omission, folks are still lies. Harris had spent
14:30
years positioning himself becoming a more public face of the
14:33
company at conferences and in the media, setting the stage
14:36
to potentially become CEO. As the review of Black wrapped up,
14:41
Harris privately expressed concern about the reputational toll that Epstein
14:46
News could take on Apollo and advocated that Black stepped
14:49
down as CEO. But Black surprised insiders in January by
14:54
persuading Rowan to accept the post mere months after Rowan
14:58
had announced he was going on semi sabbatical. And remember
15:02
when that all first broke, how funky we said it was.
15:05
You have a guy that's basically retired in Rowan, who
15:09
gets the reins when you have an act of participant
15:13
already in Smith, who is very hands on, but you
15:19
pass him up for the semi retire I mean, semi
15:21
retired executive. Why not the young vibrant man. So again
15:32
you see Leon Black's fingerprints all over the blueprint of this.
15:39
Rowan has since tightened his grip, taking over in March
15:42
when Black sixty nine sped up the handoff, citing health issues.
15:47
Yeah right, health issues more like your own sexual assault
15:52
charges or sexual allegations and your relationship with Epstein. That's
15:57
more like it. Your health issues. Please. Reducing Harris's role
16:01
is far from simple. He's listed as a key man
16:04
alongside Black and Rowan for the record setting twenty four
16:07
point seven billion dollar fund raised in twenty seventeen. The
16:12
loss of any two of them could potentially prevent the
16:15
vehicle from making new investments until customers sign off. That
16:20
status Insiders acknowledge gives Harris leverage in deciding what role
16:24
he continues to play at the company one hundred percent, right,
16:28
that's his ace in the hole. He has that ace
16:31
in the hole knowing that the instability that it would
16:35
cause for him and Black to leave is almost too
16:39
much to bear. So they at the very least they
16:44
have to play ball with him. But on other fronts,
16:49
he's losing ground. Harris is still a member of the
16:52
Executive Committee, to which the board has delegated certain authorities.
16:56
In late January, Black announced plans to eliminate the panel.
17:00
The company has said it will improve governance by reshaping
17:03
the board where Harris has a seat, so that two
17:07
thirds of its members are independent. And I think that's
17:10
a good thing, right, diversify the board, bringing some independent
17:14
of folk. We don't need just the three top dogs there, right, Harris,
17:19
Rowan and Black making all those decisions. Not a company
17:23
like this. I mean, obviously it didn't work out for
17:27
them too well, no oversight, running around like they run
17:30
the world. Sure didn't work out so well for Black,
17:33
did it.
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18:08
Speaker 1: While Harris still sits on meetings of the Private Equity
18:11
Investment Committee and takes part in related discussions on strategy,
18:15
deal makers are involving him less when arranging transactions. According
18:19
to the People, since handing off control of the firm's budget,
18:23
his role in compensation decisions has diminished too, aside from
18:27
weighing in on the most significant questions, the people said,
18:31
so basically, they've cut Harris off at the legs right.
18:35
They're trying to just have him involved in the most
18:37
important decisions and they're not really keeping him in the loop.
18:41
So what they're trying to do here, folks, is it's
18:43
basically a soft coup in the boardroom. They're trying to
18:47
force him out, but do it quietly, make it uncomfortable,
18:51
make it to a situation where he just feels like
18:53
it's not even worth it anymore. But I think they're
18:57
cutting off their nose despite their face here, and I
19:00
think once again it's Leon Black's fingerprints all over this.
19:03
He probably has a gripe with Smith now, right, how
19:06
dare you come out and speak against me, Josh Smith?
19:09
I'm Leon Black, you know what I mean, probably all
19:14
pissed off about that and has an axe to grind.
19:19
So I would not be shocked for a minute if
19:22
Leon Black's people were not sowing seeds of discontent. In
19:29
recent months, Apollo took the step of updating his executive
19:32
biography on its website, deleting a significant line Harris today
19:37
runs the day to day business of the firm. So
19:40
again the writing is on the wall, right, they're pretty
19:44
much letting Harris know that they want him gone. But Harris,
19:48
being the alphabet predator that he is as far as
19:51
you know business goes, He's not going to take that
19:54
standing down. What the t Rex seeds it's hunting ground
20:00
onto another t Rex or does it fight for it? Well,
20:05
you better think and better expect that Smith is not
20:08
going to go out meekly house hunting. Harris graduated from
20:14
the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School in nineteen eighty six,
20:18
two years behind Rowan. They soon ended up working as
20:22
deal makers at Drexel Burnham Lambert. When the junk bond
20:25
powerhouse collapsed in a scandal, Black brought the parrolong to
20:29
found Apollo with a few others in nineteen ninety. So
20:32
they all came from Drexel Burnham Lambert, which fell apart
20:39
because of scandals and you know, money laundering and all
20:43
the other great fantastic things we talk about on a
20:45
regular basis, And he brought those people over to his
20:48
new firm. Even know, Apollo's all on the up and up,
20:51
though they didn't learn anything when they were at the
20:54
heels over at Drexel. Nah. Nothing. Over the decades, Harris
21:00
played a hand in some of Apollo's most successful bets.
21:03
In two thousand and eight, he led a two billion
21:06
dollar investment in failing Dutch chemicals maker Lion Dell Bassel Industries,
21:11
on which Apollo eventually reaped a windfall as the company
21:15
was restructured. Look, there's no doubt Harris is a great businessman,
21:19
no doubt about it. As far as being a good
21:22
human being, though I highly doubt it when it comes
21:25
to all of these billionaires. The whole billionaire class seems
21:27
to be disgusting in my opinion, and usually I'm not
21:30
the kind of person that's just like, oh, yeah, all
21:32
these people are sick, but that group of people has
21:36
to prove that they're not sick. At this point, the
21:42
Bloomberg Billionaires Index indicates his wealth is six point six billion.
21:48
Some of that is that Harris's family office, HRS Management,
21:52
which is pumped money into health clubs and a Spanish
21:54
airline and helped to manage Harris's holdings in sports teams.
21:59
Harris Blitter's sports and entertainment set up with Blackstone Groups Incorporated.
22:03
David Blitzer owned stakes in the Philadelphia seventy six ers,
22:07
New Jersey Devils, and English soccer club Crystal Palace. Yeah,
22:13
Harris better spend some more time with the Devils, because
22:15
that team straight up sucks. Harris and his family, who
22:21
live in New York, have been renting a home in
22:23
South Florida since COVID nineteen infections worsened in last year's
22:26
second half. According to people familiar with the matter, he's
22:30
been considering moving his primary residence there and viewing properties.
22:34
The people said, must be nice to have that kind
22:37
of money. Huh. Just run away from the pandemic, like
22:39
all the people in New York did all of the
22:41
rich people, the virtue signaling people telling everybody else how
22:44
to live. Remember they all abandoned you, you know, the
22:47
plebes when COVID was breaking, where'd they all go to
22:51
the Hamptons? Their compounds bought up all the masks. Screw
22:55
you plebes. Remember that when they virtue signal and they
23:00
get on their soapbox, folks. Apollo has since been considering
23:07
additional offices in Miami and West Palm Beach. But for Harris,
23:11
establishing residency in a state with no income tax would
23:14
save a lot of money if he were starting to
23:16
start unwinding his financial ties to Apollo. Folks, this is
23:22
just heating up. And like I said earlier, I highly
23:26
doubt that Smith is going anywhere without a fight. So
23:31
Leon Black better bring a lunch box, better have his
23:34
big boy pants on, because the brewhaha and the Donnybrook
23:41
that's starting in the boardroom at Apollo is just catching fire.
23:48
If you'd like to contact me, you can do that
23:49
at Bobby Kapucci at ProtonMail dot com. That's Bo bbu
23:54
Y c ap u Cci at ProtonMail dot com. You
23:59
can also find me on Twitter at Bobby underscore cap Ucci.
24:06
All of the links that go with this episode can
24:08
be found in the description box and to those of
24:12
you who have donated, what's up everyone, and welcome back
24:15
to the Epstein Chronicles. So there has been a huge
24:21
gigantic disturbance in the force because Elon Musk wants to
24:25
buy Twitter. Well, Elon Musk isn't the only person who's
24:30
involved in this fray now, and reports are now coming
24:33
out saying that Apollo Global, well they might get involved
24:38
as well. And whenever Apollo Global gets involved in something,
24:42
that means Leon Black's involved as well. Now I don't
24:46
want to hear, oh well, he's not on the board anymore.
24:48
You how much stock this guy still has in the company?
24:51
Miss me? With all of that, We've talked about it
24:54
a lot here on this podcast. How Leon Black is still,
24:59
in my opinioninion anyway, the man over at Apollo. So
25:03
when you hear about this, you just got to shake
25:06
your head. How many more scumbags can we have involved
25:09
in trying to purchase Twitter? You got Bin tallal right
25:13
now from Saudi Arabia, who looks like doesn't even own
25:15
any shares anymore, getting up there Wax and poetic as
25:18
if anyone listens to anything he has to say, especially
25:23
since twenty seventeen when he was arrested by NBS. Everything
25:28
that dude says now might be his his mouth moving,
25:31
but it's NBS's words coming out. So I really don't
25:35
take anything beIN Tallal has to say seriously, to be
25:38
honest with you, But when you have people like Apollo
25:42
Apollo Global throwing their name in the hat and them
25:45
getting involved, well, you know, look, these are the people
25:48
that have the capital to make something like this go down.
25:51
As you all know, Apollo Global is one of the
25:54
most gigantic hedge funds. These guys are some of the
26:00
biggest power players in the business, and when they start
26:04
throwing their name into the ring here, it's going to
26:08
probably sway things one way or the other, depending on
26:11
who they back. So let's dive into this article from
26:14
the Daily Mail and let's see just what's going on here.
26:18
Headline a New York based private equity giant Apollo Global Management,
26:24
who's ousted founder Leon Black allegedly allegedly had business links
26:29
to Jeffrey Epstein holds talks over backing deal to buy Twitter.
26:33
Breaking news. Okay, there was no alleged ties, all right.
26:36
He gave Jeffrey Epstein one hundred and fifty eight million dollars.
26:39
He said it himself, What do you mean alleged? The
26:42
author of this article is James Gant. A New York
26:48
based private equity giant whose founder allegedly had links to
26:53
Jeffrey Epstein, has held talks over backing a deal to
26:56
buy Twitter. Reports say Apollo Global manager bosses have discussed
27:01
supporting and offer to purchase the social media giant with
27:05
equity or debt. Insiders claim the firm, whose ousted founder
27:10
Leon Black allegedly had had work ties to Epstein, may
27:13
firm up Elon Musk's forty three million dollar bid or
27:17
help another buyer. They said, work ties. That's all it was,
27:22
was work ties. Huh, Yeah, that's it. They just had
27:24
work ties. They were pals. They saw each other at
27:26
the employee dining room every once in a while. Give
27:30
me a break, okay, they were boys locked in homies.
27:34
One hundred and fifty eight million dollars for advice, Give
27:39
me a break. It comes as the billionaire in wealthy
27:43
firms circle Twitter amid expectation it could be sold. The
27:47
Tesla founder is joined by a private equity firm Thomas Toma,
27:51
Bravo LP, and Wall Street heavyweights such as Morgan Stanley
27:56
in reportedly showing an interest. So you know, when all
27:59
of these scumba rulers of the universe are getting involved,
28:02
it's just laughable that people are so upset about Elon Musk.
28:06
Like all these people are billionaires, So one billionaire is
28:10
different from the other. Shouldn't you be mad? Had been
28:13
to law and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has control
28:16
over Twitter. That's not very comforting. Now as far as
28:20
I'm concerned, I don't really care who owns Twitter. The
28:23
same people who own it now can keep it. Elon
28:25
Musk can buy it, been Palal can buy it whatever,
28:30
because Twitter's not a real place, And for me especially,
28:34
I find it laughable to watch the way people act
28:37
about Twitter, like it's this, you know, the be all
28:40
end all. It's just a place where adults go and
28:44
think it's okay to argue with strangers because there's no repercussions.
28:48
Oh you're gonna get banned. Go try that shit in
28:50
the bar, Go and yap off in the bar to somebody.
28:53
The way these people yap off to each other on
28:55
Twitter and let's see how it ends up, sources told
29:01
the Wall Street Journal. Bosses at Apollo Global Management had
29:05
been in talks about weighing into the Twitter fiasco, but
29:09
they were unsure of who the private equity firm would back,
29:13
whether they would help Musk or support another backer. Good question,
29:17
and I don't know, But when this article came out
29:21
a little bit ago, I did reach out to some
29:23
people that I know in the financial sector to see
29:25
if they could guide us, see if they know a
29:27
little bit better than we do what the scuttle button
29:30
might be. But when you're talking about Apollo Global, they're
29:33
gonna go with whoever they think is going to increase
29:36
the value the most, And my guess would be that
29:39
would have to be the Elon Musk, right considering who
29:44
he is and what he's done with Tesla. So I
29:47
don't know which way they're going to go as far
29:49
as they're backing. But whenever there's an opportunity like this
29:53
not only to increase their portfolio, but to kind of
29:57
maybe control the narrative of conversation, you know that people
30:01
like this are salivating over that opportunity. Apollo hit headlines
30:08
in twenty twenty, when one of the largest public pension
30:11
funds in the US froze new investments amid Black's alleged
30:14
business links to Epstein. The Pennsylvania Public school Employees' retirement
30:19
System halted cooperations after reports emerged Black had paid the
30:24
financier Pedophile fifty million since two two thousand and eight.
30:28
I mean, is the guy who wrote this article? Okay,
30:31
mister Ghent, do you need some help on the Jeffrey
30:33
Epstein case. I can direct you to the podcast, my friend,
30:36
and you can get all the details and educate yourself.
30:39
Try one hundred and fifty eight million. What do you mean?
30:41
Fifty million dollars? The Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System
30:51
told FT at the time its investment team had informed
30:55
Apollo it would not consider any new investments until further notice,
31:01
and we talked about that at the time. There were
31:04
several public pensions that were parking their money with Apollo
31:08
because look, let's cut all the bs out right, let's
31:12
get rid of the allegations with Epstein and all of that.
31:15
These guys did make money, grow They know their business
31:18
of how to grow money, right, No doubt about it,
31:20
so they had a lot of these public pensions were
31:23
parked in their hedge funds, and they were growing them
31:26
at a nice clip. But the psers said, look, we've
31:31
had enough. We can't be involved with this. We're the
31:33
public school system. Twitter on Monday filed its poison pill
31:40
plan with the SEC as it cemented its attempt to
31:43
block Musk from executing the forty three billion dollar hostile takeover. So, look,
31:50
when you're looking at it clinically, the offer that he
31:53
made was more than fair, especially considering Goldman had the
31:59
stock there. The future is only going to what like
32:01
thirty four to thirty five bucks a share, and he's
32:04
offering fifty four and some change. If I own shares
32:07
of Twitter, I'd be pretty pissed. Honestly, I'd want that
32:10
sale to go through, because again, look, I know there's
32:13
all this crazy talk and oh, Mela, who cares what
32:17
billionaire owns Twitter? Is that really another reason for everybody
32:20
to fight. It's hilarious to watch these artificial wedge issues
32:24
be introduced to the conversation and then to watch the
32:27
same people every single time, most of them with those
32:31
dumb ass blue check marks next to their name, spread
32:34
the divisiveness. Yeah, let's go and just you know, divide
32:37
the people further with more stupid wedge issues, the document says.
32:46
In connection with the adoption of the rights Agreement, on
32:49
April fifteenth, twenty twenty two, the Board approved a Certificate
32:53
of Designation of Rights, Preferences and Privileges of Series A
32:57
participating Preferred Stock. The certific designation setting forth the rights,
33:02
powers and preferences of the preferred stock. The Certificate of
33:06
Designation was filed with the Secretary of State of the
33:09
State of Delaware on April eighteenth, twenty twenty two. The
33:13
strategy announced on Friday triggers a dilution of company shares
33:18
if any shareholder builds up a fifteen percent stake without
33:22
the board's approval. It's you know what, this is so goofy,
33:26
and it's so counterproductive, and it's a waste of company assets,
33:30
it's a waste of company time, and it's certainly a
33:32
waste of the shareholders time and money. But it does
33:40
prevent Twitter from accepting Musk's offer or entering negotiations with
33:44
him or other potential buyers. Yet it will stop the
33:48
billionaire from putting pressure on the board by buying up
33:51
evermore shares in the open market. Twitter set its poison
33:55
pill plan is similar to other plans adopted by publicly
33:58
held companies in terrible circumstances. No, it's not. Twitter's gonna
34:02
get the shit suit out of them. Watch they're gonna
34:05
be sued into oblivion over this. You can't poison pill this,
34:09
come on, man, It said. The rights plan will reduce
34:13
the likelihood that any entity, person, or group gains control
34:16
of Twitter through open market accumulation without paying all shareholders
34:21
in appropriate control premium. It means if Musk or any
34:25
other person or group acquires at least fifteen percent of
34:28
Twitter stock, the poison pill will be triggered. Every other
34:33
shareholder aside from Musk would be allowed to purchase new
34:36
shares at half the market price, which stood at forty
34:39
five oh eight at the closing bell on Thursday. And
34:43
let's not kid ourselves. The only reason the stock is
34:45
up is because of this conversation. This stock was stagnant
34:49
for how long? Now it's up. So this whole again,
34:54
this whole conversation really is just ridiculous to me. And
34:59
the only reason I'm even talking about it right now
35:01
is because Leon Black's bitch ass is turning up in
35:04
the conversation if it wasn't for him. I don't care
35:07
about this argument between people on Twitter and oh Elon Muskin.
35:13
I look at let me be very clear, I look
35:15
at all these billionaires the same. None of them have
35:18
my best interest at heart. The flood of half priced
35:24
shares would effectively dilute his ownership stake, making it massively
35:28
more expensive for him to build up a controlling position.
35:32
Twitter said it's board had voted unanimously in favor of
35:35
the plan, which will remain in effect until April fourteenth,
35:39
twenty twenty three. Its board is led by chairman Brett Taylor.
35:43
Twitter CEO Parragh Agrowall and co founder Dorsey also hold
35:48
board seats. Oh isn't that a great group of guys?
35:51
Aren't you just so much happier with Brett Taylor, Agrowall
35:55
and Dorsey controlling Twitter? Honestly cut out the dumb partisan
35:59
bullshit and what would the difference really be? Rounding out
36:03
the board or MasterCard executive Mimi al Miyahu, private equity
36:08
investor Egon Durbin, karaoke tycoon Martha Lane Fox, former Google
36:13
executive O mid Kordistani, Stanford professor Fifi Lee, venture capitalist
36:19
Patrick Pischittt, First DIB CEO David Rosenblat, and former banker
36:24
and diplomat Robert Zolik. Sure sounds like the kind of
36:27
company and the kind of people who care about you. Huh.
36:30
You think these people sit around and care about the
36:32
arguments you're having. None of these people care, Okay, none
36:37
of them. Not one of those people really give a shit.
36:42
Despite Twitter's latest move, Musk could still defy the board
36:45
and take over in a proxy fight by voting out
36:48
the current directors, though this strategy could take years. Musk
36:53
previously responded to reports the board was mulling a poison
36:56
pill plan by tweeting if the current board takes action
37:01
contrary to shareholder interests, they would be breaching their fight
37:04
fiduciary duty. And that's for sure He's not wrong about that.
37:09
Their job is to safeguard the investment. If I make
37:12
an investment in your company and there's a deal where
37:15
I can have a huge come up on it, you
37:17
better damn well at least listen to that that that deal,
37:20
that offer. Don't just go running around and crying and
37:24
moaning because of what reason, because some other billionaire wants
37:28
to buy the company. Oh, the liability they would thereby
37:36
assume would be titanic and scale, he added, apparently referring
37:39
to potential shareholder lawsuits. Musk sends shockwaves through the tech
37:44
world on Thursday with an unsolicited bid to buy the company.
37:48
He said the promotion of freedom of speech on Twitter
37:51
as a key reason for what he called his best
37:53
and final offer. I don't believe that for a minute either.
37:56
Don't get it twisted. I'm not sitting here saying, oh,
37:58
Elon Muscles, your great gut another dude who got a
38:01
picture with Glenn Maxwell, another guy going to these billionaire brunches,
38:05
and shit, not my people, certainly nobody. I'm sitting around
38:08
and having an argument with my friends about the world's
38:13
richest person. Offered fifty four to twenty a share, which
38:17
value the social media firm at some forty three billion.
38:21
In a filing with the SEC on Thursday, must set
38:24
at a conference hours later that he was not sure
38:27
he would succeed and acknowledge the plan b but refused
38:30
to elaborate. But he hinted in a filing that a
38:33
rejection would make him consider selling his shares. Musk last
38:38
week disclosed a purchase of seventy three and a half
38:40
million shares, or nine point two percent of Twitter's common stock,
38:45
which sent its share staring more than twenty five percent.
38:48
And again, that's what you see with the increase here
38:51
of the stock. It's because he bought it. So as
38:54
a shareholder, I would be furious right now that they're
38:57
even arguing about this. Sell this shit move. Let me
39:00
get paid. The board's rights plan kicks in if a
39:05
buyer takes fifteen percent or more of Twitter's outstanding common
39:08
stock in a transitions. In a transaction and not approved
39:11
by the board, Musk said he could technically afford the buyout,
39:15
while offering no information on financing. Well, he is the
39:19
richest guy in the world. I'm sure he can do
39:21
whatever the fuck he wants. Right if he wants to
39:23
buy Twitter, I'm sure he'll figure out a way to
39:25
do it, but he would likely need to borrow money
39:28
or part with some of his mountain of Tesla or
39:31
SpaceX shares. Despite saying you wanted to take the company private,
39:35
he said the firm would keep up to two thousand investors,
39:38
the maximum allowed Some investors have already spoken out against
39:42
the proposal, including businessman and Saudi prince al La Weed
39:47
Bin Tallal. God, I hate this guy. I'm sorry, folks.
39:50
I don't mean to digress, but I really dislike Bin Tallal.
39:53
He's a smug, arrogant son of a bitch, and when
39:57
MBS knocked them off his perch, I wasn't sad about it. Now,
40:02
don't get it twisted. Not a huge fan of NBS either.
40:05
Another psychopath, but been to law. This dude has some nerve.
40:10
You're really gonna talk about you're being in charge of
40:14
Twitter or sitting on the boards better than insert other
40:17
billionaire here. Yeah, because Saudi Arabia has such a great
40:21
track record, mister prince guy. Morning Star Research analysts echoed this, saying,
40:27
while the board will take the Tesla CEO's offer into consideration,
40:31
we believe the probability of Twitter accepting it is likely
40:35
below fifty percent. Well, that's where somebody like Apollo Global
40:39
will come in. They'll come in with a fuck ton
40:41
of dough. They'll park their dough here, They'll get a
40:44
fat share of it, and then your favorite place to
40:47
go in argue with your friends Twitter, Oh that'll be
40:50
run by one of Jeffrey Epstein's buddies. Won't that be nice?
40:56
So again, me personally, I really don't care about this argument.
41:00
Who owns Twitter is not affecting my life one way
41:03
or the other. I have real problems that I have
41:05
to deal with, real issues at hand, folks. But the
41:09
second you name someone like Leon Black as a possible investor,
41:13
you better damn well believe me. My beard and my
41:17
big mouth will be there with a few things to say.
41:20
All right, folks, that's gonna do it for this update.
41:23
As usual, some more is certainly on the way, and
41:26
as you all have noticed by now, I'm guessing I
41:29
dropped the first episode of my new House of the
41:32
Dragon podcast and you can download that now. All right, folks,
41:37
until later on. I will catch you later, and if
41:40
you'd like to contact me, you can do that at
41:42
Bobby Kapuchi at ProtonMail dot com. That's bo bby c
41:47
ap you Cci at ProtonMail dot com. You can also
41:51
find me on Twitter at Bobby underscore cap you Cci.
41:57
The link that we discussed can be found in the
42:00
description box.