The email arrived in Lesley Groff's inbox on Friday April 26, 2013. It came from Melanie Spinella, identified by the signature block as "Assistant to Leon D. Black, Apollo Global Management, LP."
"Hi — Happy Friday! Leon and Debra are flying to Jeffrey's Ranch in Santa Fe on Sunday morning — I will let you know when they are landing — Jeffrey is having someone pick them up. Then Leon, Debra, Jeffrey and two others will fly from Santa Fe to LA (landing at Van Nuys airport — Maguire Aviation South) — I will let you know time so you can arrange a car for them. I need the names of the two going with Jeffrey — thanks!!!" [EFTA02140568]
Groff's reply was practical. She gave Spinella the names of the two additional passengers on Epstein's return flight. The names are redacted in the indexed corpus version. She also asked for the tail number of the Blacks' plane. Spinella: "Sure — Tail No. is N 624N."
Later that afternoon, Groff updated the Zorro Ranch staff: "ok thanks...Brice/Karen, make sure to coordinate with Larry on this heli ride!..don't want you driving to Santa Fe airport if they are taking a heli! Below is Leon's cell number in case you need it!" [EFTA02140913]
Epstein had arranged a helicopter to move Leon Black from the Santa Fe airport to the ranch. Larry Visoski, Epstein's personal pilot, was coordinating the onward flight from Santa Fe to Van Nuys.
The Weekend
Sunday April 28, 2013. Leon Black and his wife Debra arrived at Zorro Ranch by private plane (tail N 624N), transferred by helicopter from the Santa Fe airport to the property. At some point on Sunday or Monday, five people boarded Epstein's jet together: Leon Black, Debra Black, Jeffrey Epstein, and two additional passengers whose names were provided by Groff and redacted in the indexed EFTA version. The plane flew to Van Nuys, landing at Maguire Aviation South.
The Financial Context
Leon Black was then the founding Chief Executive Officer of Apollo Global Management, one of the largest alternative-asset managers in the United States. Reporting has established that Black paid Epstein approximately $158 million for tax and estate-planning advice between 2012 and 2017. The source-of-record figure is the October 2020 external report prepared for Apollo's board by the law firm Dechert LLP. The April 28, 2013 ranch visit in EFTA02140568 sits inside that payment period.
What the Record Does Not Show
Who the two redacted additional passengers on Epstein's return flight were. What was discussed at Zorro Ranch over the weekend of April 27-28, 2013. Whether Black was billed for the ranch visit, the helicopter, or the private aviation. Whether the visit is referenced in Dechert's reconstruction of the Black-Epstein advisory relationship. None of those questions is answered by the verified primary source.
Several Items Remain Open
The identities of the two redacted passengers. Any subsequent 2013 correspondence between Black's office and Groff. The full dated record of Black's ranch visits, if more than the April 28 trip is documented in the EFTA corpus. A complete retrieval of Black-Epstein correspondence is the next step.