A new book reveals just how buddy-buddy billionaire Leon Black was with creep Jeffrey Epstein

To the Greeks, Apollo was a god of many things, not least among them prophecy.What better name, then, for a Wall Street firm free to invest in nearly anything based on what it sees ahead?Apollo Global Management became immensely successful thanks in large part to its brilliant and driven founder, Leon Black.

But somewhere along the line, foresight failed him and, blind to what should have been obvious even to lesser mortals, he became the protagonist of a modern Greek tragedy.In “Money to Burn” (Portfolio Books) the writer and former investment banker William D.Cohan tackles this epic tale.

To explain the rise and fall of Leon, the author first tells the story of how the firm Drexel Burnham Lambert rose to preeminence, and then how its ingenious alumni and innovations colonized the financial system after its bankruptcy in 1990.Drexel’s collapse came after it pleaded guilty to securities violations; the firm’s renowned junk-bond king, Michael Milken, later did likewise.But Milken’s insight — that lending to riskier corporate customers could pay big — was never refuted.

Thus, when Black and other Drexel veterans launched Apollo, they started out by buying a large, distressed portfolio of the junk bonds that Drexel had pioneered.Apollo similarly feasted on bargains during the financial crisis.

The firm has had winners and losers over the years but overall has performed exceedingly well.Today it is a financial colossus that, among other things, annuitizes retirement savings to fund its lending.

Leon and his chief associates, Marc Rowan and Josh Harris, whom he generously made partners, became billionaires.If “Money to Burn” is a success story, it is also a story about the hazards of new fortunes, which include massive public failure and the fear of betrayal even by lovers and close associates.Leon’s father, Eli, was a tycoon in his own right, but a disastrous merger (essentially, the acquisition of the Chiquita banana business) may have been th...