Jeffrey Epstein inquired about buying a plane from Penn megadonor Marc Rowan
The exchange occurred at a time when Epstein was doing business with Apollo Global Management, the private equity firm Rowan co-founded and now serves as CEO.
Disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein once inquired about buying a private plane from University of Pennsylvania megadonor and Wharton School adviser Marc Rowan, emails released by the U.S. Department of Justice show.
The exchange, which appears among the three million documents unsealed Friday, occurred in early 2016, at a time when Epstein was doing business with Apollo Global Management, the New York-based private equity firm Rowan co-founded in 1990 and now serves as CEO.
Epstein’s assistant Lesley Groff emailed Rowan’s office on Jan. 12 and asked for details about Rowan’s private plane: “Jeffrey is asking if he could get the details of Marc’s plane for sale...the hours, photos, any pertinent information! Possible?”
It was not clear whether Rowan ever personally followed up on the plane offer, which was first reported by Bloomberg News, but a representative for the jet company offered Epstein the Gulfstream G450 for $18.9 million, noting it was in “immaculate condition.” The plane ultimately sold to another buyer, according to Bloomberg.
A spokesperson for Rowan declined comment Friday.
Beyond his success on Wall Street, Rowan has become a powerful and controversial force at Penn, where he serves as chairman on the advisory board at the Wharton School. The billionaire executive donated more than $10 million to the school last year, and led a campaign to oust former UPenn president Liz Magill and board chair Scott L. Bok over the school’s handling of antisemitism on campus after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel.
While his business relationship with Epstein has not been widely reported, Epstein had a long history with Rowan’s predecessor and fellow co-founder at Apollo, Leon Black. Black was one of the few Wall Street bosses who stood by Epstein after his 2008 guilty plea for soliciting sex from a minor, according to the New York Times. He stepped down as CEO and chairman of the company in 2021 after it came to light that he had paid Epstein more than $158 million in adviser fees over the years.
» READ MORE: New Epstein files show years of email exchanges with Sixers co-owner Josh Harris
A week prior to the plane inquiry, Rowan had breakfast at Epstein’s home in New York City — at Rowan’s request, emails show. The two financiers were engaged in some kind of investment together, the details of which are not entirely clear in the DOJ emails. The documents do not indicate Rowan and Epstein discussed anything other than business.
In February 2016, a month after the plane inquiry, Epstein emailed Rowan to ask him for a phone call, though he did not say what about.
Rowan’s name appears in Epstein’s emails dating back to 2013, including a proposed meeting that year at Epstein’s New York City residence involving Black and another Apollo co-founder, Josh Harris.
Harris, who also owns the Sixers, and Epstein also corresponded multiple times over several years, although a Harris spokesperson said he sought to avoid meeting with Epstein to prevent him from forming a formal relationship with Apollo.
Rowan, in contrast, appears to have sought Epstein out for meetings, like the one that took place prior to Epstein’s plane offer.
“Marc said if Jeffrey wants an early breakfast that will work for him,” an Apollo assistant wrote to Epstein’s handler. “He will bring coffee!”