The CEO who took over for Leon Black has turned Apollo into a money-making machine

But don’t let that fool you. Rowan has turned Apollo into a money machine that is generating some of the fattest current returns in alternative asset management—with $2 billion in earnings in the first half of this year. Apollo’s share price has jumped 89% since he took the reins. And Rowan believes he will reach a trillion dollars of assets under management by 2026.

How does he do it? Fortune’s financial whiz Shawn Tully takes a deep dive into Apollo’s business, which is built on a smorgasbord of debt, and it’s this morning’s must-read. “I don’t think I’ve discovered fire,” Rowan tell Tully, with characteristic modesty. “I think we’re just logically looking at trends, and we’ve picked a really, really big market that’s got the best future in the world of credit.”

Interestingly, Black had tried on three separate earlier occasions to get Rowan to take the CEO job, and each time he refused. Rowan told Tully he didn’t want to run the firm as a triumvirate. “You can respect your partners but also realize three people can’t run a company. When we agreed on things, it was great. When we disagreed, it became deadlocked.” But after Black exited in 2021 and their third cofounder went off to focus on his sports teams, Rowan took the opportunity.

You can read Tully’s story here. Other news below, including Fortune’s coverage of Amazon’s big bet on AI.

Alan Murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com

TOP NEWS

Amazon’s AI partner

Amazon will invest up to $4 billion into startup Anthropic as the e-commerce company tries to bolster its AI offerings. Amazon’s cloud customers will now get early access to some unique features from the AI developer. In February, Google invested $300 million into Anthropic, which says it focuses on AI safety more than competitors like OpenAI. Fortune

Exit bans

Beijing has reportedly slapped an exit ban on a senior investment banker for Japanese firm Nomura Holdings. The measure prevents Charles Wang Zhonghe, the chair of investment banking for China for Nomura's Hong Kong office, from leaving mainland China. Wang is supposedly linked to a probe into Bao Fan, the CEO of investment bank China Renaissance, whom Beijing mysteriously detained earlier this year. Financial Times

Ford pauses its plans

Ford Motor is pausing construction of its $3.5 billion battery plant in Michigan, citing a lack of confidence in its ability to “competitively run the plant.” The firm is currently negotiating with the United Auto Workers union, which started a strike against Ford, GM and Stellantis over a week ago. Ford’s plant will use technology from battery maker CATL, a decision which has drawn scrutiny from some in Congress who worry the deal is a way for the Chinese company to get access to U.S. tax credits. Detroit News

AROUND THE WATERCOOLER

Sen. Gillibrand wants her fellow Democrats to get on board with crypto legislation by Leo Schwartz

How many ‘vacant homes’ does China have right now? A former statistics official has an eye-opening prediction by Will Daniel

Wall Street’s most powerful woman has a message for Citigroup staff resisting the company’s overhaul: ‘Get on board or get off the train’ by Eleanor Pringle 

Gen Z can’t work alongside people with different views because they ‘haven’t got the skills to disagree’ says British TV boss by Orianna Rosa Royle

Russia appears to have found a way to circumvent $60 barrel price cap sanction on crude oil exports by Christiaan Hetzner

Generative AI could be Europe’s shot at gaining a competitive edge against the U.S., Accenture’s AI chief for Europe says by Prarthana Prakash

This edition of CEO Daily was curated by Nicholas Gordon.