Show an ad over header. AMP  

Josh Harris stepping down from day-to-day role at Apollo Global Management

20 May 2021
 Dan Ackermann

Josh Harris is stepping down from his day-to-day Apollo Global Management, the alternative investment giant he co-founded in 1990, after losing a succession battle.

Between the lines: This is the latest domino to fall from the relationship between fellow Apollo co-founder Leon Black and Jeffrey Epstein, which ultimately resulted in Black's resignation as both CEO and chairman.

Background: Harris concluded that Black had to go long before Black did, which either means Harris was more in touch with the gravity of the Epstein situation, was being an opportunist, or both.

  • Either way, Black didn't take too kindly to the usurpation, recruiting third co-founder Marc Rowan back from his Hamptons retirement to become CEO.
  • The writing was then on the wall for Harris, who has outside interests as co-owner of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and NHL's New Jersey Devils. He also was part of an unsuccessful effort to buy the New York Mets.

Details: Harris will remain on Apollo's board of directors and executive committee. His transition becomes effective when the firm closes its megamerger with Athene, which is expected to occur next January.

What Harris is saying, per an internal email sent this morning: "I will return to my roots as an investor and entrepreneur, focusing full time on the platforms I’ve created outside of the firm, as well as deepen my commitment to philanthropy and social impact. Now is the right moment for this transition. I believe that our unrivaled and deeply talented global team is in the most capable hands under Marc’s leadership. I am grateful to Marc for his partnership and friendship."

What Rowan is saying, per an internal email sent one minute later: "Josh has been an amazing partner and it has been my privilege to work side by side with him for nearly 35 years.  I am fortunate to lead a business with an incredibly strong management team, which Josh had a significant role in helping to develop."

What Omar Little would say: You come at the king, you best not miss.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

Section2

Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.