Summary7 min read

The Epstein Chronicles – Mega Edition: Why Did Wall Street Enable Jeffrey Epstein?

Host: Bobby Capucci
Date: July 11, 2026
Episode Context: In this “Mega Edition,” Bobby Capucci digs into the connections between Jeffrey Epstein and Wall Street, with a particular focus on billionaire Leon Black and the broader financial elite’s enabling behaviors. Capucci dissects recent journalistic reporting, institutional complicity, and the persistent unanswered question: not just how Epstein rose, but why he kept surviving scandals that should have ended his power.

Episode Overview

This episode centers on the intricate and troubling relationship between Wall Street elites—especially Apollo Global’s Leon Black—and Jeffrey Epstein. Capucci examines how powerful interests protected and enabled Epstein for years, even after his criminal activity was public knowledge, and how much of the media and institutional response today is more about reputation management than true reckoning. The podcast blends critique, bitter humor, and impassioned analysis, exposing systemic failures and asking why so many looked the other way for decades.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

I. Leon Black, Apollo Global, and the Persistence of Elite Denial

[03:10–07:00]

Capucci reacts to Vanity Fair’s article on Wall Street’s skepticism toward Leon Black’s “Epstein story."
- Black made $158 million in payments to Epstein, officially for “estate planning and tax advice.”
- Even Wall Street insiders and lawyers call the independent, company-paid investigations a “whitewash.”
Capucci’s perspective: Elite-driven “impartial investigations” are designed to contain embarrassment without exposing full wrongdoing.

Quote:

“Nobody’s buying what Leon Black is selling anymore… you’re not paying this dude $158 million to come over and yap about the state of the stock market. Give me a break.”
—Bobby Capucci (05:43)

Black, a co-founder of Apollo Global (over $350 billion under management) and with a $10 billion net worth, claims to have relied on “Coney Island hot dog salesman" Epstein for high-level advice—an explanation Capucci and his contacts categorically reject.
Discussion of Black’s vast power in finance and the unreliability of “internal” investigations (Deckert, hired by Apollo).

II. The Farce of Internal Investigations

[10:00–16:00]

Apollo’s “conflicts committee” is staffed by industry insiders, including a former CIA executive—showcasing, per Capucci, troubling overlaps between financial power and government/intelligence.
Deckert, the law firm “investigating,” had no power to subpoena and was reliant on voluntary disclosures—making the process little more than PR.
Despite bias in Black’s favor, Deckert still uncovered $100 million more in Black-to-Epstein payments than previously reported.

Quote:

“This was a gigantic game of BS… Even with them being in the bag for Leon Black and Apollo, they still found a hundred million dollars that Leon Black wasn’t honest about…”
—Bobby Capucci (16:45)

III. Black’s Decades-Long Ties to Epstein: Excuses vs. Evidence

[19:00–30:00]

Black’s relationship with Epstein ran from the mid-1990s to 2018—through multiple scandals and Epstein’s known offenses.
Black’s justification:
- Epstein was “intelligent” and an expert on tax/estate matters.
- “All these other rich and influential people… CEOs and Nobel laureates, still hung out with [Epstein],” as if social normalization excuses complicity.
Capucci ridicules Black’s narrative: Epstein lacked the credentials for such trust and access, and no real evidence supports the notion he was a unique financial genius.
Black kept Epstein on his family foundation board for years after Epstein’s first conviction (“Oh yeah, I’m sure that was just a mistake. That is all that was, folks…”).

IV. Wall Street’s Ruthless Culture and Hypocrisy

[33:00–38:00]

Black’s reputation as a “ruthless dealmaker” and “vulture investor” is contrasted with his supposed trust in Epstein.
Capucci notes how little Black seems to care about the consequences of his deals, except when it allegedly comes to “giving criminals a second chance”—a privilege rarely extended beyond his rich peers.
Dissects the absurdity of Black’s claims to have believed Epstein’s lies, noting “rehabilitation” for child sex offenders is a farce compared to white-collar criminals.

V. The Real Questions: Why Did No One Stop Him?

[50:00–57:00]

Capucci’s key critique is a broader one: Why did Wall Street, the media, and “the system” permit Epstein to operate for decades?
He critiques the journalism and legacy media, noting the current “reckoning” is reputation management, not true investigation.

Quote:

“What we’re not getting is the one question that makes everyone uncomfortable: How did this man keep surviving things that should have destroyed him, not once, not twice, but over and over again across decades, jurisdictions, and scandals?”
—Bobby Capucci (57:20)

The podcast argues that media and elite society have carefully skirted the role of systemic protection, focusing instead on sanitized narratives about money and social ladders.

VI. Epstein’s “Immunity” and the Informant Hypothesis

[01:05:00–01:16:00]

Capucci directly raises the possibility that Epstein acted as a confidential informant, which could explain his decades of inexplicable legal leniency.
Law enforcement often shields useful villains; the 2008 non-prosecution agreement in Florida protected Epstein and “unnamed co-conspirators.”
The podcast posits that Epstein’s value to institutions outweighed the imperative to prosecute him—an explanation more plausible than mere chance or individual corruption.

Quote:

“The central issue is not Epstein’s financial genius, because there is little evidence he had any. It’s not his social brilliance either… The real story is Epstein’s immunity. Over and over again, he encountered situations that should have ended his freedom… Instead, consequences dissolved, investigations stalled… That kind of consistency does not happen by accident. It happens when someone is deemed more valuable, protected rather than prosecuted.”
—Bobby Capucci (01:10:27)

Timestamps of Notable Segments

03:10 – Introduction to Leon Black’s continued troubles and the skepticism on Wall Street.
05:43 – Capucci’s biting summary: “Nobody’s buying what Leon Black is selling anymore…”
12:45 – The conflicts committee: financial power meets CIA connections.
16:45 – Even a biased investigation uncovers $100 million in additional Black-to-Epstein payments.
21:00 – “Mutual friend” introductions, unexplained ties, and years-long connections—Black’s “duck” analogy.
33:00 – Black’s Wall Street ruthlessness laid bare.
50:00 – Capucci’s monologue on how selective reporting and reputation management have shaped the narrative.
57:20 – The big question: why wasn’t Epstein stopped for decades?
01:10:27 – Articulating the “immunity”/informant theory as the only consistent explanation.
01:16:30 – Concluding observations on consequences for survivors and continued institutional deflection.

Notable Quotes & Moments

On Wall Street’s complicity:
“These people, folks, are the real problem. These hedge funders, these financial banker types who are legitimately working on a daily basis to make our lives worse… and continue to enable sick bastards like Jeffrey Epstein.” (09:18)
On investigator independence:
“The people that you’re paying are gonna go out and find—they’re gonna dig extra hard for that dirt? Or are they going to just try and dig deep enough to make it look like they did their job while at the same time saving you the embarrassment and the eventual black eye of your real transgressions and your real actions?” (07:42)
On social complicity:
“If your friends all jumped off a cliff, would you follow them and do the same thing? … And the fact that these CEOs and Nobel laureates are hanging out with Jeffrey Epstein and helping him refurbish his image, don’t you see that’s part of the problem, Dick bag Black.” (31:56)
On media accountability:
“That collective amnesia is convenient because it lets a lot of people off the hook… The tone has changed, sure, but the framing is still careful, still polite, still boxed in… we’re getting safe questions. We’re getting safe answers. What we’re not getting is the one question that makes everyone uncomfortable…” (57:01)
On the informant hypothesis:
“I’m not presenting this as a proven courtroom fact because that bar has never been allowed to be tested. I’m presenting it as the most coherent explanation for a decades long pattern of inexplicable leniency… Informants are not treated like ordinary criminals. They’re assets. And assets are managed, not destroyed.” (01:11:25)
On survivor impact:
“Every year Epstein remained free was another year of abuse… These aren’t abstract policy failures. They’re human costs. When media outlets dance around the real questions, they participate in minimizing that harm…” (01:15:08)

Episode Takeaways

Leon Black’s explanations for massive payments to Epstein are roundly rejected by both Wall Street insiders and Capucci, who see institutional coverup and gaslighting at work.
“Independent” investigations, especially those paid for by implicated parties, are fundamentally suspect and engineered for damage control, not transparency.
The true scandal is not Epstein’s rise but how he was protected, rehabilitated, and shielded for decades, despite massive red flags and exposure.
Media, financial, and social elites all played a role in maintaining Epstein’s immunity, whether through active complicity or willful blindness.
Capucci contends that only the hypothesis of Epstein as a state-protected asset (e.g., an informant) adequately explains his uninterrupted freedom and privilege.
Real accountability—both for Wall Street and the press—remains evasive, and survivors continue paying the price for institutional failures.

[For further information, see all linked sources and follow Bobby Capucci at bobbycapucci@protonmail.com or on social media. Episode links and sources in the episode description.]

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[00:00]
A
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We'll see you there. Hey, what's going on everybody? Happy Friday and greetings from Sin City. Tonight on the program we're going to discuss the dick bag Leon Black a little bit more because guess what? It's not just us who aren't buying his bs. Nobody on Wall Street's buying it either. There's a new article out in Vanity Fair and, and that's basically the gist of this article that we're going to dig into tonight. Now I've reached out to a couple of people I know, ex colleagues who work in the financial sector work in Manhattan down on Wall street and they say that it has, it's been an absolute coup in that boardroom according to word on the street, meaning there is no way that Leon Black can play this off. Like he was not pushed out by Joshua Harris. This wasn't like some kind of consensus thing. Leon Black was forcefully pushed out here and word on the street is he's not going to be chairman either for very much longer. Now again, those are unsubstantiated rumors. Just scuttle butt but from people in the industry. But these folks are usually pretty spot on when they're talking about stuff like this. You know, when we're dealing with big trust funds or hedge fund a hedge fund managers and there's a injury quote unquote or you know, somebody looks like they're weak. Well, it's just like in nature, sharks in the water, when they smell blood, what happens? They go in for the kill, even if it's one of their own. So it's no different at this ultra high level of the financial sector. It's a killer be killed kind of world. And Leon Black is floating around right now with his dorsal fin hardly intact. So you know that the sharks are in the shallows as we speak. And that Leon Black most certainly, most certainly has not heard the end of this. The, the bit of him sticking around as chairman is that was his way of trying to make it not look as bad in my opinion. Right. To try and save as much face as possible. But even that is going to be ripped from him relatively soon because at the end of the day, no one's buying what Leon Black is selling anymore. Our article tonight is from Vanity Fair headline. What a sad tale of sycophants. Wall street isn't buying Leon Black's Epstein story. Deckard's report on the Apollo co founder's decades long dealings with the late convicted sex offender pedophile including payments of $158 million is raising eyebrows and, and more questions on Wall Street. One lawyer dismissed it as a whitewash. Well, could let's, let's go go back in time. Pretty sure that's what I say about every single one of these so called impartial investigations that are initiated by the company who's in trouble. Oh yeah, that's exactly what's gonna happen. The people that you're paying are gonna go out and find they're gonna dig extra hard for that dirt or are they going to just try and dig deep enough to make it look like they did their job while at the same time saving you the embarrassment and the eventual black eye of your real transgressions and your real actions. And I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels like that. I'm glad that this lawyer feels the same way because I'm certainly not a lawyer. Right. I'm just your average everyday person like the rest of you folks, you know? Yeah, know enough to be dangerous about most of the world, right? But sometimes when you look at something and it doesn't make sense and people try and tell you that an ostrich is a duck, well, I'm not gonna believe the gaslighting. I'm gonna go with what I know and what, what I can see and what I can prove. And folks, Leon Black is a duck. Most certainly isn't an ostrich. This article was authored by William D. Cohen. Nice try, Leon. You must think we are pretty stupid, gullible or insane to believe the tale you spun to Deckard, the Wall street firm about your Decades long involvement with Jeffrey Epstein, the late convicted pedophile. Well, I for one am not buying it. Not any of it. And neither are many other smart Wall Streeters. What a sad tale of sycophants was the way one longtime Wall street banker explained it to me. Added a Wall street lawyer. It's preposterous. And I'm telling you folks, that's what my people were telling me too. That this is a bunch of bs, right? This, this is the kind of thing that only Leon Black or somebody as powerful of as him could try and pull off. This is such so brazen and so ridiculous that he's trying to actually make us force feed us this narrative. It is straight up gaslighting. We all know the truth and the score. Look, the receipts don't lie. You're not paying this dude $158 million to come over and yap about, you know, the state of the stock market. Give me a break. Nobody's buying any of that shit. So really, Leon Black, the real question is, you ginormous dick bag, what was the money really for? Leon is of course Leon Black, one of the billionaire co founders of Apollo Global Management, the publicly traded private equity and investment firm with around 350 billion under management. Chew on that number for a little while, folks. $350 billion, that's the, the, the capital that is under his control. I mean, wow, so this guy's in control of all of that money. He's in control of a bunch of different pensions and in control of all kinds of different financial futures for people. But yet he's relying on the Coney island hot dog salesman, Jeffrey Epstein. That's what he's relying on. Huh? I'm sure that, that, that just instill, instills all sorts of confidence in the people who entrusted their money to him. Let me tell you, I would have my money out of there so quickly that you wouldn't even know what hit you if you were Apollo Global. According to Bloomberg, Black has a net worth of nearly $10 billion. That's with a B, folks. Of course he has a private jet and a luxury yacht and lots of fancy homes. In 2012, he paid nearly $120 million for one artwork, one of the four versions of Edvard Munch's and 1895 pastel. The Scream. Well, now that he's out over at Apollo, him and his art collection will have a lot of time to console each other. He has a world class art collection cost about a billion dollars. It doesn't say it here in this article. But that's what the estimated worth of his art collection is now. Think about that for a minute. $1 billion in art? It's just obscene. He is also the chairman of the board of trustees at the Museum of Modern Art. His wife, Deborah, is on the board of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He is rich and powerful. That means he can hire what appear to be reputable law firms to put their stamp of approval on a version of the truth that is not likely to be independently verified by anyone. Not guaranteed getting paid by Black or by Apollo. That's not the same as transparency, folks. It's. It's almost as if the author here has been digging around in my head and coming up with some different ideas because I. This is all the same stuff I talk about all the time. This is bs. And the. The way that these people get away with it with these, these independent investigations that they're paying for, it's absolutely ridiculous. I'll tell you what, if we've learned anything, anything lately with Wall street bets, it's that we have the power. The power of the people is still what works, folks. You know how I always say one that can be ignored, but 10 million, well, that's a different story. And you're seeing that with Reddit and with Wall street and I. You know, when we come together and we work towards a common goal, even the richest and most powerful amongst us have to take heed. And that's why I am always railing about us fighting with each other. It's ridiculous. It has to stop. The tribalism and shit has to stop. These people, folks, are the real problem. These hedge funders, these financial banker types who are legitimately working on a daily basis to make our lives worse. Don't you remember Occupy Wall street? When all of these hedge funders were literally looking down at people sipping from their glasses of champagne after they literally bankrupted the whole entire country. How many companies were ruined? How many people's pensions were ruined? I know personally more than a handful of people who still have not recovered. And yet these banksters, these dickbags like Leon Black and the rest of them sit there and sip their bubbly, eat their caviar, and continue to enable sick bastards like Jeffrey Epstein. Hanging out at the pool is great. Relaxing and playing Vegas style games on my phone at the same time. Drink in one hand and a blackjack in the other. It's all at speed. Spin Quest. Over a thousand games, including your favorite slots and table games. Be cool with this summer special, new players get 30 coin packs for 10@Spinquest.com Spin Quest is a free to play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details. In October, the conflicts committee of the Apollo board of directors, which is three people by the way, hired Decker to conduct a thorough investigation into the relationship between Black and, and Epstein after the New York Times reported that Black had paid Epstein at least 50 million for Epstein services. And again, props to the New York Times for actually going the extra mile here. And I get it, right? They're going, they did it because they don't like Leon Black. He's a dick bag. And you know, it's always nice to slam a scumbag billionaire's face in their own waist, right? So I get why they went after him or go or they're going after him. But I'd love to see this kind of zeal with other people involved in this case. And it doesn't matter who go after them all. Trump, Mnuchin, Clinton, you name it, go after them. Wexner. Let's see that zeal from these journalists. Let's, let's see them earn people's trust back because it's at an all time low. Nobody trusts the media. It doesn't matter what side of the aisle you're on. And it's because they make shitbag moves. It's because people look at them like they're corrupt or they're, they're, they're tilted one way or the other. Here's an idea. How about you just report the facts and follow the evidence wherever it leads. Over the years, there has been a lot of bad press about the relationship between Black and Epstein and many rumors. But the Times report appeared to be the last straw for some of the members of the Apollo board. The conflict committee comprises Michael Doocy, its chairman, a consultant and something of a professional board member. AP Buzzy Krongard, the former CEO of Alex Brown and Sons, the defunct investment bank and a former executive director of the CIA. And Pauline Richards, a former insurance executive like Ducey, a professional board member. Isn't that nice, huh? Got yourself a nice former executive director of the CIA. That's exactly what we need, the financial world and the CIA holding hands and playing patty cake, huh? Do you understand yet, folks? Do you see why I'm always railing about the CIA? It's not just some sort of half cocked rant. These people are involved in everything. Everything. And they shouldn't be. During its three month investigation, Deckard reported that it reviewed more than 60,000 documents voluntarily provided to it by Black. His family office, Apollo executives, and by Apollo's outside counsel, Paul Weiss. Deckard said it spoke with more than 20 individuals, some more than once, including Black, and also on a voluntary basis. Deckard did not have the ability to subpoena either documents or witnesses. Yeah, no shit. It wasn't through the court. Of course they didn't. They make it. They, they act like it was this big investigation. But Deckard, Hart, they had no power to compel Leon Black to turn over documents or to be completely honest. So how can anyone believe what the hell's going on over here? Give me a break. I said it from the beginning, folks, that this was a gigantic game of BS and that's what it was. That's what this investigation was. And even with them being in the bag for Leon Black and Apollo, they still found a hundred million dollars that Leon Black wasn't honest about when it comes to his financing Jeffrey Epstein or being in bed with Jeffrey Epstein financially. So if you're lying about that, what else are you lying about? According to the Deckert Report, which was dated January 22 and then filed with the securities and Exchange Commission, Black and Epstein had a social relationship from the mid-1990s to 2018. Are you kidding me right now? From the mid-90s to 2018. That's right around the time that Jeffrey Epstein started visiting Bill Clinton in the White House, isn't it? Yeah, I think it is. So this dude, Leon Black, was friends with Jeffrey Epstein for all of these years. He knew that Jeffrey Epstein was a sick pervert. He knew that Jeffrey Epstein was trying to not only recruit and groom underage girls, but he was also abusing them. Unless you lived under a rock or on Mars or in a place without any sort of Internet service or news service, you knew exactly what Jeffrey Epstein was up to. They were introduced by an unnamed mutual friend. An unnamed mutual friend, huh? I wonder who that could be. That'll be a fun investigation to go on, folks. That's your homework assignment for the weekend. Who's the mutual friend? Black viewed Epstein as someone who was very intelligent and knowledgeable regarding issues relating to estate planning and taxation. The report allowed in 1997, Black appointed Epstein to be one of the initial directors of the Black Family foundation, established to facilitate his charitable giving. I mean, does this sound like somebody who really wasn't too connected to Jeffrey Epstein, folks? Sure doesn't sound that way to me. Sure sounds to me like this is somebody who was very much connected to Jeffrey Epstein. Sounds to me like somebody who knew all of Leon Black's secrets and somebody who Leon Black. Well, you know, fellow travelers and all. Black apparently was impressed that David Rockefeller had appointed Epstein to the board of Rockefeller University, a scientific research university on the east side of Manhattan. Yeah, because the Rockefeller family is just fantastic human beings as well. Another group of so called elites that, that I could do without, that I've had a belly full of. According to the Deckert report, Black's understanding was that Epstein was extremely knowledgeable about science and technology as well as a strong proponent of scientific research and development. Epstein had somehow convinced Black, one of our most gifted financial engineers, that he was the ultimate auto autodidict. Exceptionally skilled in both the arcane rules of tax structuring and estate planning and also scientific research. Oh yeah, because you know, Jeffrey Epstein was all of those things. Right. And he had the resume to prove it. So what Leon Black wants us to believe is anybody could just walk into his office and start railing about what they've done or what they've accomplished and get the job. Because he certainly didn't have the resume to get this kind of job. That's certainly the case. He did. He, he didn't go to any graduate from any fancy college. What, what was he ever involved in that would garner him that kind of respect from somebody like Leon Black? According to the Deckard Report, Epstein introduced Black to well regarded researchers at MIT and Harvard. Epstein stayed on the Black Family foundation board for about 10 years until he resigned in mid-2007, the year before his conviction for pedophilia because of an oversight. The foundation reported to the IRS that Epstein remained on its board until 2012 when the mistake was discovered. In 2013 the reporting was changed. Oh yeah, I'm sure that was just a mistake. That is all that was folks. Come on. How dare anyone think that they would keep sick ass Jeffrey Epstein on their board after his arrest. Not Leon Black. Because Leon Black is such a pillar of the community, such an upstanding citizen. Black's reputation on Wall street was as a ruthless dealmaker. He learned his craft at Drexel Burnham Lambert, the defunct investment bank. And from its superstar banker Michael Milken, a recently pardoned convicted criminal who helped create the junk bond market. Michael Milken was an absolute scumbag. Another scumbag financial jerk and well guess what? Another jerk from the financial sector. Or I guess you should say from the so called elite sector. Well he just pardoned them. Black was head of Mergers and Acquisitions at Drexel before it blew up in one of Apollo's earliest deals. It negotiated to Buy at a significant discount the bond portfolio of Executive Life Insurance Company, which had failed after, among other things, buying too many Drexel underwritten junk bonds. Boy, isn't that ironic, huh? The irony never ceases to amaze me. So this company who bought a bunch of underwritten junk bonds from Drexel was where Leon Black worked, went defunct because of those junk bonds. And then Leon Black went in and bought them all up. Hell of a guy, that Leon Black. How about we have him over for dinner? Black was highly adept at fighting for the last penny in deals and was one of Wall Street's most feared vulture investors. The people who buy bonds of distressed companies at a discount and then get control of companies by converting the debt that they own to equity. Hostile takeover. And that what they would do is then they would liquidate that shit. And they will. They don't care if people lose jobs or careers or whatever. Doesn't matter to them when they say vulture investor. Oh, I have had no luck lately. Wait. Lady luck Britzky. I got you. I've had so much luck on spinquest.com they have all of my favorite games, slot games, live Blackjack, craps and. And bubble craps. You can even get a 30 coin pack for just 10 bucks. 10 bucks for 30. I'm headed over to spinquest.com right now. Spinquest is a free to play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details. There should be a picture of Leon Black in the dictionary. As Apollo grew, Black and his growing team engineered bigger and bigger deals. Among its biggest successes are Lyondale Bassel, a chemical company, adt, the security company. And among its biggest flops are Caesars Entertainment and Linens. And things I remember with the Caesars Entertainment situation. And that didn't turn out well for them at all. Caesars has been on a decline for quite some time now, and even Mr. Dickbag Leon Black couldn't stop that. For reasons that Deckard does not completely make clear. Black, the rapacious financier Bloomberg once referred to him as the most feared man in the most aggressive realm of finance, had a soft spot for Epstein, even after his 2008 guilty plea for soliciting prostitution and procuring a person under the age of 18 for prostitution. Oh, no, it wasn't a soft spot. These fo. These dudes were connected. They were buddies. And it wasn't about a soft spot. It was about Leon Black willing to overlook Jeffrey Epstein's behavior because they had themselves a nice, disgusting, parasitic relationship. According to Deckard, Black Believes in rehabilitation and giving people second chances. Yeah, how many felons does he have working for his company? How many ex felons are working for Apollo Global in the financial sector? I'm guessing not many. So how many people have you given second chances to by giving them jobs, Dick bag Black. That's also why Deckard wrote, Black has stayed friendly with both Milken and Martha Stewart, who have spent time in prison for financial crimes. You asshole. Okay, you can come back from that. Financial crimes. While it makes you an absolute piece of shit. You can come back from. You can be sorry about it. You can rehabilitate yourself. You can make amends. There's no coming back from sexual assaulting children. There's no coming back from human trafficking. Apparently, Black seemed to be converted to a pushover for two other reasons. First, Black. Black believed Epstein when he said he had only solicited a minor for prostitution once. And that Epstein mistakenly understood the prostitute in question. Well, hold on. The prostitute in question? You mean the little girl in question? Okay, let's get our words right. Vanity Fair. You've done enough to. To hurt the people involved in this case with your 2003 puff piece, so don't even get me started on you. Vanity Fair prostitute. This was a little girl in question, was older. And second, because so many other rich and influential people, including CEOs and Nobel laureates, still hung out with them. So, you know, if your friends are doing it, you should do it too, because that's a great idea. I know when I was younger, my mom used to say something to me all the time. And she would say, if your friends all jumped off a cliff, would you follow them and do the same thing? And it's the same thing here. Leon Black. What, your mom never told you that one? Never. Never gave you that old adage, this guy's an absolute douche? And the fact that these CEOs and Nobel laureates are hanging out with Jeffrey Epstein and helping him refurbish his image. Don't you see that's part of the problem, Dick bag Black. So how about for once you idiots in the financial sector stop being part of the problem? Oh, it was just so cozy. Black viewed Epstein as a friend worthy of his trust. According to Deckard, they attended social events together. Black confided in Epstein on personal matters. And Black introduced Epstein to his family. Black regularly visited Epstein's townhouse in New York to either discuss business or. Or to meet other prominent guests who are visiting Epstein, including well known businessmen, political figures, diplomats, scientists and celebrities. Well, did you ever get a massage there, Mr. Black? That's the question that should really be asked. I want to know, did Leon Black ever get a massage at Jeffrey Epstein's? Point blank, period. Is anyone ever going to ask him that? Maybe I should shoot him an email and see what he has to say. In general, one on one breakfast meetings between Black and Epstein would be more common for business meetings, whereas afternoon meetings with other guests would be more common for social visits. Black invited Epstein to his son's 30th birthday party in the Hamptons in 2015, according to someone who was there these days. Apparently Black. Black is contrite and would not have given Epstein a second chance had he known more about Epstein's criminal activity, according to the Deckard report. Such bs. Okay, nobody believes you. Not the penguins, not the polar bears. Nobody believes you. And you're another one inviting Epstein to your son's birthday party in 2015. It was well established what Jeffrey Epstein was by 2015. Who in the hell actually believes this? Turns out, according to Deckard, the Times was off by more than 100 million in its estimates of payments from Black to Epstein in the years between 2012 and 2017. That is after his second chance started and after a 2011 report in the Daily Mail about Epstein's continued atrocious behavior. Black paid Epstein $158 million for advice on issues including tax, estate planning and structuring. That, Deckard wrote, saved black between 1 billion and 2 billion dollars. $158 million for his advice. That's what they want you to believe. I do not believe that Somehow we are supposed to believe that Jeffrey Epstein, a college dropout who taught math for about two years at the Dalton School on the Upper east side and then worked at Bear Stearns before being fired, is responsible for between 10% and 20% of Leon Black's net worth. What did I say the other day? I mean, maybe I should start writing some articles. I guess itunes will probably find a way to limit that as well. So maybe I'll just keep to running my fat mouth. But I've been saying this for how long? Folks, everything that this gentleman is saying in this article is all the stuff I've been saying for literally months about Leon Black and Jeffrey Epstein and how deep the ties ran. Apparently, Epstein's big break for Black came in 2012, when he solved what the report says was a mounting problem in a grantor trust that Black had established in 2006 with the help of a trust an estates attorney recommended to Black Buy. Wait for it. Epstein. But the flaw in the trust, if not fixed, would have cost black between 500 million to 1 billion or more. Deckard wrote. There seems to be no plausible explanation for how Black allowed this to happen or why a tax expert would make such a colossal mistake. Black tried to solve the problem with all his experts, but he couldn't, alas. Oh, yeah, I'm sure all of his experts couldn't figure it out. He had to go to Jeffrey Epstein. Jeffrey Epstein is the man with a plan. We're talking. Remember Russell Crowe's character in A Beautiful Mind? Just looks at all the numbers and. And can figure out the equations right there, no matter how big or long. That's Jeffrey Epstein. Obviously, we're talking about Albert Einstein reincarnated, folks. If we only would have known what. What a genius was amongst us. But Epstein could. He claimed his solution was proprietary. According to Deckard, Black asked outside legal counsel to vet Epstein's solution and to watch over Epstein generally. Why didn't Black's legal counsel just do his tax and his state work for much less money? One wonders. Yeah, why not all of these people around him, this huge company, Apollo, they don't have tax people. They don't have some of the best people in the world. You gotta go out and bring in a mercenary like Jeffrey Epstein, huh? Okay. According to Deckard, Epstein had hit a grand slam because his idea met all of Black's financial and estate planning goals. In 2013, Black and Epstein signed a contract for services including the implementation of Epstein's solution. Usually, Epstein told Black he would charge a client 40 million a year for his advice, but he offered to give Black a Break. 23 and a half million, which was paid to Epstein in two installments in 2013. Even by Wall street standards, the fees Blackpay agreed to pay Epstein were preposterous. You could buy a law firm for what Leon agreed to pay Epstein. A retired CEO told me, no shit. I've been telling you guys that forever. Everybody I know that works in the financial sector just shakes their head and rolls their eyes when they see these kind of numbers being thrown around. This isn't. You gotta understand, these people, they don't wanna let a cent leave their fingers. So paying this kind of money for advice for these narcissistic alphas like Leon Black, it just doesn't happen, folks. Based on the grand slam, Black agreed to hire Epstein again in mid-2013 for future services, agreeing to abide by terms similar to the initial contract, but apparently without a signed agreement. According To Deckard Blackpad Epstein. In total of 50. 50 million in 2013. And on an ad hoc basis, another 70 million in 2014 and another 30 million in 2015. Wait, I thought the. I thought his fee was only 23 and a half million. What's going on here? Why is it getting bumped up all of a sudden? You don't get the homie hookup no more there, Leon. I'm gonna need the full 30. I'm gonna need 50. I'm gonna need 70. Pay up. Pay up. Pay up. I mean, really. Epstein went on to advise Black about some loans he had made to certain family trusts, which appeared to save Black some money. His art collection, his yacht and his airplane, which apparently unnerved a broker of private jets who was not pleased because, according to Deckard, the broker knew Epstein was sophisticated when it came to airplanes and that it would be hard to negotiate against Epstein. Once again, we are asked to believe that Jeffrey Epstein was a better negotiator than Leon Black. No, I will not believe it. I am sorry. I will not believe it. There's nothing that anyone can do to prove to me or show me that Jeffrey Epstein's a better negotiator than Leon effing Black. I know Leon Black. I know his reputation. I know the way people think of him on Wall Street. And I know that this dude is not ceding power to Jeffrey Epstein. Not today, not yesterday, not in a thousand years from now. There is more, of course, not all of it fully explained. 20 and a half million of unpaid loans to Epstein from Black. A dispute between the two men over Epstein wanting even more money from Black. That led to their falling out in 2018. But the report suggests that it was all legit and that the value Epstein provided to Black substantially exceeded the total compensation that Black paid to him. While also noting that Black paid more in fees to Epstein than he paid to any other professional. Imagine that, huh? Of all the professionals Leon Black's working with, all the people in his realm and in his atmosphere, Jeffrey Epstein was the. The person he paid the most money to. Why? Hey everybody. Lady luck here. And we're celebrating America's 250th birthday. Now, all summer long, I'm going to be celebrating by playing on finquest.com which is an American owned social casino. It obviously features over a thousand slot games and live blackjack, live craps, live bubble craps. Head on over to spinquest.com get yourself a $30 coin pack for just 10 bucks. Spinquest is a free to play social casino. Void where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details. Concurrent with the release of the Deckard report, Black agreed to resign as Apollo CEO in July, around his 70th birthday, but will remain chairman of the board. Mark Rowan, one of Apollo's founders, will succeed Black. Josh Harris, another Apollo co founder who is reportedly angling to secede. Black has at least publicly endorsed Rowan as CEO. There's more going on there, folks, right? I don't have any proof of that, but there is a struggle going on behind closed doors. Rowan had taken a step back. He was basically in self imposed retirement. And now all of a sudden he steps back up and into the plate and Harris is getting pushed to the side again. Do you really think that Harris is okay with that? I highly doubt it. Black also agreed to donate 200 million to initiatives that seek to achieve gender equality and protect and empower women, according to a statement, including those that help survivors of sexual assault and human trafficking. Deckard's report cleared him of wrongdoing. Of course, these are not the droids you are looking for and it really is that, right? That's what they're trying to do. They're trying to do the old Jedi mind trick on us, right? Wave their hand in front of us and say, all right, this is it. No big deal. It's all good. He ma, he. It was a bad judgment call by Leon Black. That's all. The Wall street lawyer says it's all just a load of crap. He uses the words whitewash and cover up. His unproven theory is that Black was using Epstein to pass money to people who he didn't want to be associated with by name. There's no way Jeffrey Epstein was keeping 158 million, he says. An Apollo spokesperson did not respond to questions about whether Black used Epstein as a conduit to pay others in this manner or if Black had any plans to return as the CEO after he gives up the position in July. So again, what was that money being used for? Why was Jeffrey Epstein being given all of this money? Very possible that Jeffrey Epstein was washing this money and, and laundering it and then distributing it to people that Black was in business with that he didn't want his name associated with in public. I know it sounds like a movie and. Right. But this is reality, folks. And now that the drapes have been pulled back, the curtains have been pulled back, and you folks have gotten a little look behind, there's no going back from this. There's only going forward. Apollo's board allowing Black to remain as Chairman reminds the lawyer of the old Wall street saw. The king. Horse can talk strategy. There's a plot against the king, he explains. The king catches the head plotter. He throws him in the dungeon and says, two weeks hence, off with his head. The plotter is down in the dungeon in the bottom of the castle. He whispers to the guard, the look, before the king kills me, he better realize that I can make his horse talk. The guy says, yeah, sure. He goes, no, I mean it. You better tell the king I can make his horse talk. The guard wanders upstairs, sees the king, says, look, I don't know whether to make heads or tails of this, but the guy says that he can make your horse talk. The king says, hmm, let me think about it. The guard goes back downstairs. The guy says, what did the king say? The king said he'd think about it. And the guy smiles. The guard said, what are you smiling about? You can't make his horse talk. He says, well, a lot of things can happen between now and two weeks hence. The horse could die, the king could die, and who knows? I might figure out a way to make the horse talk. So Leon in his mind, has between now and July to make the horse talk. Josh could die, Mark could die. Anything could happen. Yo, folks, that. That little. That little story there sums it up perfectly. That is everything I've been telling you about this and the. The situation that we find ourselves in with Apollo Global. I have known Mark Rowan for more than 25 years. I used to cover him at Apollo when I was a banker at Merrill Lynch. I used to try to present him with actionable ideas, companies that Apollo might want to buy that were open to being bought. I shared with him a bunch of ideas, a few of which Apollo ended up doing. But Apollo never paid Merrill any fees. As a result of my ideas, I get the sense that Apollo was not the kind of firm that will let anyone get a dollar out of them if it could be avoided, let alone 158 million. Rowan is now a billionaire. In May 2009, Rowan gave a talk to the Jewish Enrichment Center. He got to talking about people he worked for. Over the years, I worked directly for Dennis Levine, a former Drexel M and a banker who went to jail and then went to work for Marty Siegel, another Drexel M and a banker who also went to jail. Jail. I then moved out to California to work for Mike Milken, who also went to jail. There are so many ethical dilemmas you are presented with over your career. The choices you make just determine who you are over time. And if that's the case, then the person that Leon Black has been determined to be over the course of time is certainly not somebody that any of us would want to be. Because this dude and his choices and his very, very strong relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is not just going to go away. And for Leon Black to think that he is just buying himself some time right now and waiting to cruise right back into his position. Well, I think maybe he should give the Joe Exotic of the Windsor family a phone call and see how that's going for him. If you'd like to contact me, you can do that@bobby capuchirotonmail.com that's B O B B Y C A P U C c I@protonmail.com youm can also find me on Twitter at B O B b ycap ucci all of the links that go with this episode can be found in the description box. And folks, make sure that you are subscribed to the podcast at whatever platform that you get it from. That way you get it as soon as it's uploaded. All right, everybody, enjoy your Friday night. Please do not drink and drive and I will be back tomorrow. License Number what's up everyone, and welcome to another episode of of the Epstein Chronicles. A lot of people like to pretend that the Epstein story just fell out of the sky. Like one day everyone woke up and suddenly realized Epstein wasn't just a rich creep with a jet and a guest list, but something far darker and far more entrenched. That collective amnesia is convenient because it lets a lot of people off the hook. It lets institutions act surprised. It lets media outlets posture and as late arriving heroes instead of early enablers. And it lets the same voices who mock this story for years now act like they discovered it on their own. What's happening right now isn't revelation. It's reputation management. The tone has changed, sure, but the framing is still careful, still polite, still boxed in. We're getting long essays about money, connections, careers, origins. We're getting safe questions. We're getting with safe answers. What we're not getting is the one question that makes everyone uncomfortable. How did this man keep surviving things that should have destroyed him, not once, not twice, but over and over again across decades, jurisdictions, and scandals. Now, some might want to call that a coincidence. Me, I see a pattern. Epstein didn't just slip through the cracks. The cracks don't work like that. He walked through doors that should have been locked, guarded and bolted shut. Every time consequences loomed, they softened. Every time Exposure threatened, it dissipated. Careers ended around them, but his never did. Investigations stalled, but his lifestyle never changed. That kind of consistency doesn't come from charm or luck. It comes from something structural, something systemic, something people are still afraid to name out loud. And that's why the current wave of coverage feels both overdue and incomplete. You can write 10,000 words about where someone worked, who they knew, or how their money moved and still miss the point entirely. Because the real story isn't how he rose. It's how he was allowed to stay standing. It's how the rules bent without breaking. It's how alarms rang without anyone responding. Until we start asking why that kept happening, we're not investigating history, we're just curating it. So enjoy the sudden interest. Enjoy the glossy retrospectives and recycled timelines. Just understand this. If the conversation never crosses from how did he make it? To why did he survive it? Then we're still being fed a version of the story designed to protect someone. And if there's one lesson Jeffrey Epstein taught us, it's that protection, real protection, never happens by accident. And what you're watching now is not an awakening so much as a delayed reckoning. The people who once rolled their eyes at the Epstein story are suddenly acting like they've stumbled onto buried treasure, when in reality, they've arrived at a crime scene that's been taped off for decades. The shift didn't come from courage or curiosity. It came from pressure and embarrassment. When the story refused to die, when survivors kept speaking, and when documents kept leaking, legacy media finally realized silence was was no longer an option. That doesn't mean they're telling the whole truth now. It means they're telling a version of it that feels safe enough to publish. Hey everybody. Lady Luck here. And we're celebrating America's 250th birthday. Now, all summer long, I'm going to be celebrating by playing on finquest.com which is an American owned social casino. It obviously features over a thousand slot games and live blackjack, live craps, multiple bubble crafts. Head on over to spinquest.com get yourself a $30 coin pack for just 10 bucks. Spin Quest is a free to play social casino, Boyd. Where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details. And that distinction matters more than most people want to admit. Because what's being presented as new reporting is often just recycled surface level material stripped of its most dangerous implications. And the New York Times is a perfect example of of this phenomenon. Suddenly we're getting long form features about Epstein's early career. His time around Bear Stearns and the mystery of his money. On its face, that sounds like progress. In reality, it's an exercise in historical laundering. These are stories that could have been written years ago, when Epstein was still alive and actively abusing girls. Instead, they arrive now, when the central figure is safely dead and incapable of contradicting anyone. That timing is not accidental. It's much easier to write boldly about a monster when the monster can no longer implicate anyone else. And it's even easier when the most explosive questions are politely left unasked. For years, people like you and me were told we were exaggerating. We recall conspiracy theorists for suggesting Epstein's crimes extended beyond individual depravity into institutional protection. The idea that powerful systems enabled them was dismissed as paranoid fantasy. Yet here we are, watching those same outlets gingerly approach the edges of that very conclusion. The difference is they still refuse to name the mechanism. They'll describe the smoke endlessly, but they won't say who lit the fire. Instead, they fixate on money trails, social connections, and career anecdotes. Those details matter, but they are not the core of the story. And the Bear Stearns story is a perfect case study in misdirection. Yes, Epstein's exit from Bear Stearns is suspicious. Yes, it raises legitimate questions about how a college dropout with no formal credentials ended up managing money for billionaires. But focusing solely on that chapter obscures something far more important. Plenty of shady operators wash out a Wall street under clouds of misconduct and never recover. Epstein didn't just recover the he ascended. He didn't disappear into obscurity or face lasting professional consequence. He landed on his feet every single time, often in ways that defied logic and precedent. That pattern demands an explanation far beyond luck or charm. And this is where the mainstream narrative consistently collapses under its own weight. Journalists ask how Epstein made his money, but they rarely ask how he survived his scandals. They catalog a social network, but they don't interrogate why those connections never abandoned him when red flags piled up. They marvel at his resilience without questioning what force might have been cushioning his falls. That omission is not accidental or benign. In journalism, what's not asked is more revealing than what is. And in Epstein's case, the unasked questions all point to the same uncomfortable direction. The central issue is not Epstein's financial genius, because there is little evidence he had any. It's not his social brilliance either, because plenty of social climbers are exposed and discarded once their utility fades. The real story is Epstein's immunity. Over and over again, he encountered situations that should have ended his freedom, his fortune, or at the very least, his access to victims. Instead, consequences dissolved, investigations stalled, Charges worse, often delayed or quietly abandoned. That kind of consistency does not happen by accident. It happens when someone is deemed more valuable, protected than prosecuted. This is where the allegation that Epstein functioned as a confidential informant becomes unavoidable, regardless of how uncomfortable it makes people. I'm not presenting this as a proven courtroom fact because that bar has never been allowed to be tested. I'm presenting it as the most coherent explanation for a decades long pattern of inexplicable leniency. Law enforcement agencies routinely cultivate informants who are morally reprehensible because usefulness often outweighs ethics. Drug traffickers, arms dealers, money launderers, and traffickers themselves have all been protected at various times in exchange for information. That's not speculation, that's documented history. The idea that Epstein could have occupied such a role is not extraordinary. What would be extraordinary is pretending that the pattern doesn't fit. If Epstein was flipped early, many pieces suddenly fall into place. His ability to move freely across borders despite allegations. His repeated brushes with law enforcement that never seemed to stick. The remarkable deference shown to him by prosecutors in Florida. The reluctance of federal authorities to pursue him aggressively even when victims were begging to be heard. Informants are not treated like ordinary criminals. They're assets. And assets are managed, not destroyed. When you view Epstein through that lens, the story becomes grimly coherent. And of course, this Also reframes the 2008 non prosecution agreement in a far more disturbing light. That deals with wasn't just lenient, it was aberrational. It protected unnamed co conspirators, concealed agreements from victims, and short circuited federal oversight. People often attribute this to prosecutorial cowardice or corruption. And those factors may have well played a role. But informant status provides a structural explanation for why so many safeguards were overridden. It explains why DOJ leadership signed off. It explains why the FBI appeared disengaged. And it explains why Epstein emerged from the scandal not diminished, but emboldened. After 2008, Epstein didn't retreat. He expanded. He continued abusing girls with apparent confidence that the system would not stop him. That confidence didn't come from arrogance alone. It came from experience. He had learned repeatedly that consequences did not apply to him the same way they applied to others. When someone behaves that brazenly, it's usually because past behavior has been rewarded, not punished. That's a psychological reality. Not a conspiracy theory. And it's one that journalists still struggle to confront honestly. The media's fixation on Epstein's money conveniently avoids this reality. Money. Safe territory. You can trace accounts, speculate about shell companies, and analyze investments without challenging the legitimacy of federal institutions. But once you ask how Epstein survived criminal exposure, you're forced to examine law enforcement itself. You're forced to consider whether the FBI failed catastrophically or acted deliberately. Neither possibility reflects well on the institution. So instead we get endless articles about Bear Stearns and billionaires. As if wealth alone explains immunity. It doesn't. Look. It's also important to acknowledge that the role of skepticism here. Because skepticism was selectively applied. When survivors spoke, they were doubted. When independent researchers raised questions, they were mocked. When journalists outside elite circles connected dots, they were ignored. But when legacy outlets finally approach the story, their skepticism evaporates. Their assumptions are treated as serious inquiry, even when they trail far behind what is already known. The double standard is not accidental. That shit's structural authority is granted based on platform, not accuracy. And for me, what's particularly galling is that Epstein operated in their backyard. New York was not some distant jurisdiction where oversight was difficult. He lived openly, hosted lavish gatherings, and moved in elite circles. His name circulated for years alongside rumors that were treated as impolite rather than urgent. That kind of willful blindness doesn't happen without institutional permission. Journalists had access. Editors had leads. The silence was a choice. And choices have consequences, especially when they enable abuse. Now that the tone has changed, we're supposed to applaud the effort without questioning the delay. We're supposed to act grateful that the story is finally being taken seriously. But gratitude is not accountability. Late coverage does not absolve earlier neglect. If anything, it demands harder questions about why that neglect occurred. Was it fear of lawsuits? Fear of powerful advertisers? Fear of government sources drying up? Or was it something more insidious, like quiet pressure not to dig too deep? Those questions still haven't been answered. The informant question sits at the center of all of this, like a live wire. It explains why the Epstein case feels unfinished even after his death. It explains why documents remain sealed or heavily redacted. It explains why agencies speak in careful half sentences instead of clear denials. And it explains why the narrative keeps circling the perimeter without entering the core. You don't need secret knowledge to see this. You need. You just need pattern recognition and intellectual honesty. Unfortunately, honesty is often the first casualty when institutions protect themselves. Sometimes failure is functional. Sometimes it serves a purpose. And sometimes that purpose is invisible precisely because acknowledging it would shatter public trust. The tragedy, of course, is that survivors pay the price for this protection. Every year Epstein remained free was another year of abuse. Every delayed investigation was another stolen childhood. These aren't abstract policy failures. They're human costs. When media outlets dance around the real questions, they participate in minimizing that harm. Intent doesn't matter nearly as much as impact, and the impact has been decades of silence punctuated by bursts of bladed outrage. So when people ask me why they waited until now, the answer is painfully simple. They waited because they could. They waited because the risk of silence outweighed the risk of truth only recently. And they waited because confronting the full scope of Epstein's protection requires confronting institutions they still rely on. And until that changes, the story will remain incomplete no matter how many long features get published. The real scandal isn't where Epstein started. It's how he was allowed to continue again and again, with help from those sworn to stop people like them. All of the information that goes with this episode can be found in the description box. What's up everybody? It's Bretzky and America is turning 250 and I can't think of a better way to celebrate that than playing on an American owned social casino. Spin quest.com with all of your favorite games, Live craft bubble, craft apps, live blackjack, there's no better place to play for free and win real cash prizes. Spinquest.com Spin Quest is a free to play social casino, Boyd where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details.