Leon Black’s Biographer Admits 'There’s More' Behind His Relationship With Jeffrey Epstein, But Details Remain Elusive

The author of a new biography on Leon Black said he believes there's more to the Wall Street billionaire's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein than has been established, but that the full truth may never emerge.

William Cohan, whose 600-page book Money to Burn traces Black's rise and fall, made the comments during a discussion at Manhattan's 92nd Street Y in September (via Vanity Fair).

Pressed on what Black was actually paying Epstein for, Cohan repeatedly declined to offer a definitive answer, saying the one person who might resolve it is dead.

The conversation, led by The New York Times' Andrew Ross Sorkin, circled the central mystery of Black's story for roughly half an hour.

"We all think there's more to it," Cohan said of the relationship between the two men, while insisting he couldn't prove what that "more" was.

Black told him on the record that the payments were for legitimate services, Cohan said, and the other party to those conversations, Epstein, is dead.

"There's no way I can get to the bottom of that," he said, adding later, "It's unclear whether anybody believes his story, but he believes it. And he told it to me on the record. What am I supposed to do? I'm just a journalist."

Black has said he paid Epstein about $158 million for tax advice and estate planning, an explanation that has drawn skepticism given the size of the sum. Money to Burn does not propose a more sinister arrangement, though it acknowledges the figure was extraordinary for such services.

Sorkin pushed Cohan on whether he accepted that account or believed Epstein was providing something else. Cohan wouldn't commit either way, maintaining that the payments are a documented fact while their true purpose is not.

"It is true that he paid $158 million to Jeffrey Epstein," he said. "He thinks it was for tax and business and estate advice."

Money to Burn has opened a dispute with the Times journalists who broke the Black-Epstein story. Cohan described a strain of the paper's coverage as a "Leon jihad," and his book closely dissects the reporting of Times journalist Matthew Goldstein, quoting a Black spokesperson who called it a "smear campaign."

The Times reported in March that Epstein helped Black structure about $20 million in payments to a dozen women, some of whom had been in sexual relationships with Black.

Black's attorneys told the Times that he was unaware Epstein paid any women on his behalf, and the paper has said its reporting was fair, accurate and has held up. At least three women have accused Black of sexual assault. He's denied those allegations, and none have resulted in any criminal charges.

Cohan's book does not address Epstein's reported role in the payments to women, a gap the Times reporters have criticized. Cohan has said the news broke late in his publishing process and that he spoke with Goldstein during his reporting.

The unresolved questions have followed Black well beyond the page. He stepped down as head of Apollo Global Management, the private equity firm he co-founded, after an independent review of his Epstein ties, and he's since testified before the House Oversight Committee as part of its Epstein investigation.

Sen. Ron Wyden has suggested in a letter that some of Black's payments might warrant scrutiny as possible money laundering, which Black denies. The fallout has reached his philanthropy as well. Students at Dartmouth College have called for Black's name to be removed from its art center, and Cohan said the financier's family foundation has struggled to give away a planned $1 billion.

Cohan said he would welcome a definitive account of the Black-Epstein relationship, but doesn't expect one.

"Epstein's dead, and Leon's sticking to his story," he said.