Leon D. Black earned more than half a billion dollars in 2013, amid flush times for the private equity firm he runs, Apollo Global Management.
Mr. Black, co-founder and chief executive of Apollo, earned $369.3 million in cash dividends and other compensation last year, a filing on Monday showed. Adding in his profit from investing in Apollo’s funds, the total earnings were $546.3 million.
That was the largest haul by a single executive of a publicly traded private equity firm last year. The Blackstone Group reported last week that its chief executive and co-founder, Stephen A. Schwarzman, earned $452.7 million for 2013, including the profit from his personal investments in Blackstone’s funds.
To employ a metaphor used by Mr. Black, Apollo successfully harvested big gains from its investments last year. Public markets were buoyant, allowing Apollo and its rivals to take large profits and return piles of cash to investors.
“It’s almost biblical. There is a time to reap and there’s a time to sow,†Mr. Black said last spring, in remarks that quickly became an unofficial motto for the private equity industry in 2013. “We’re selling everything that’s not nailed down.â€
While Mr. Black’s base compensation was relatively small - $273,053, including costs of a car and driver - the bulk of his earnings came from dividends on the 92.7 million shares he owns in Apollo. The private equity firm paid dividends of $3.98 a share for 2013.
Apollo, which also operates credit and real estate businesses, makes private equity deals by raising funds from large investors. Employees of the firm contribute capital to these funds as well, and Mr. Black invested $8.4 million in 2013.
His distributions from the funds, including profits and return of capital, totaled $177 million last year. Mr. Black received no share of carried interest, the investment profits due to Apollo.
Not included in the compensation figure is Apollo’s payment of $763,120 to Mr. Black for the use of his private aircraft.
Apollo was the last of the big publicly traded private equity firms to file an annual report detailing executive compensation. Last week, the Carlyle Group reported that its three founders collectively made $750 million in 2013, while Kohlberg Kravis Roberts said its two co-founders each earned more than $160 million.
