Start Here: TrueHoop’s Jeffrey Epstein investigation
"Some of the greatest shit I have ever read."
I’ve consumed a metric ton of Epstein content, and have come to love the work of Julian Dorey. He has a sharp brain and a willingness to ask questions that expose the nooks and crannies of the Epstein scandal. So it meant a lot to me when Julian brought up TrueHoop to John Kiriakou—a fascinating source of intel.
He has inspired me to do something I should have done a long time ago: create a real user guide to TrueHoop’s Epstein investigation.
TrueHoop has been covering the NBA since 2005. But starting in 2019—and accelerating through 2021 and beyond—we kept pulling on a thread that led somewhere unexpected: a deep, documented entanglement between the NBA’s most important source of money, a convicted sex trafficker, the CIA, and some of the most powerful figures in American finance and politics. This is a guide to that reporting.
Why This Investigation Exists
It started simply enough: Jeffrey Epstein was arrested in 2019, and TrueHoop noticed something the mainstream sports press largely ignored: several of the billionaires who own sports teams have meaningful ties to Epstein and his financial network.
The deeper we looked, the stranger it got.
The thread ran through Apollo Global Management—arguably the most important source of money in the NBA—whose founder Leon Black paid Epstein a reported $158 million. Apollo’s co-founders include Josh Harris (Philadelphia 76ers) and Tony Ressler (Atlanta Hawks). NBA commissioner Adam Silver’s college roommate, Jim Zelter, is Apollo’s president. The story runs through Michael Milken’s Drexel Burnham Lambert, the CIA, Abu Dhabi, and a cast of characters that reads like a spy novel.
This is not a story about basketball. It is a story about power, money, and who really runs things—told through the lens of the league we’ve covered for two decades.
Start Here
If you read one thing first, read this:
The NBA’s Most Important Source of Cash (February 23, 2021) Apollo Global is a behemoth, with nearly $1 trillion in assets ($938 billion as of the end of 2025) making it one of the largest asset managers on earth. Its portfolio includes companies like ADT, Cox Media Group, and Caesars Entertainment. Apollo recently acquired a majority stake in Atlético Madrid. Apollo manages money on behalf of pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and millions of ordinary retirement savers.
The billionaires who run the 76ers and Hawks made their fortunes there. Apollo’s founder paid Jeffrey Epstein a reported $158 million. This post is where everything clicks into focus—and of all TrueHoop posts ever, it’s where most new readers become subscribers.
How the Investigation Began
These posts launched the investigation and provide essential context.
“There is a world in which this is the norm.” (July 16, 2019) Jeffrey Epstein’s world of billionaires and powerbrokers and its proximity to the NBA.
Jeffrey Epstein’s Game (July 18, 2019) A shocking glimpse into the billionaire class Epstein inhabited.
Billionaires Are Risky (July 29, 2019) Epstein and the uber-rich; what proximity to people like Epstein reveals about billionaire culture broadly.
Where the NBA Meets the Trump Administration (November 1, 2019) The sequel to Drexel Burnham Lambert’s “Predator’s Ball”; the through-line from junk bonds to NBA ownership.
Billionaire Values (January 14, 2020) On the particular kookiness that extreme wealth and power produces.
The Core Series: Apollo Global, the CIA, and the NBA
This is the investigative spine of everything.
In February 2021, TrueHoop launched what was supposed to be a quick look at the NBA’s Epstein connection. It became something much larger—tracing how Apollo Global, its founders, and their associates connect to Jeffrey Epstein, the CIA, Abu Dhabi, the mob, and the origins of modern American finance.
1 The NBA’s Most Important Source of Cash (February 23, 2021) (Featured above — the best place to start.)
2 The Earliest Days of the CIA (February 24, 2021) How the founding of the CIA connects to the financial networks, and ethos, at the center of this story.
3 Buzzy at Princeton (March 1, 2021) A.B. “Buzzy” Krongard—a CIA figure—served on Apollo’s board. What did he know?
4 “You saw me” (March 2, 2021) A history of honey pot traps and Hollywood. “I call these guys the monsters.”
5 Buzzy the Banker (March 9, 2021) Krongard’s banking career, his intelligence work, and his position on the committee overseeing the investigation of his colleagues.
6 In Business with Criminals (March 15, 2021) Carl Icahn’s business partners got in a lot of trouble.
7 Everyone in This Story Owns Planes (March 27, 2021) Private aviation, private islands, and the infrastructure of impunity.
8 “The Biggest Crime in American History” (March 30, 2021) A man who knew Epstein well says he’s part of a large group.
9 “A Stealth-Like Invasion of the U.S. Banking Industry” (April 8, 2021) Foreign money, deregulation, and the BCCI scandal.
10 Jeffrey Epstein’s Tutor (April 29, 2021) How Epstein got his start, and who taught him how the game was played.
11 Adnan Khashoggi and Richard Nixon (April 30, 2021) The arms dealer who connected Middle Eastern money to American power.
12 Apollo Investigates Leon Black and Jeffrey Epstein (May 11, 2021) The Dechert Report, Apollo’s own internal investigation into why its founder paid Epstein $158 million, had incredible access and measly results.
12 Bill Gates and Jeffrey Epstein (May 5, 2021) TrueHoop’s Epstein investigation keeps running into Bill Gates.
13 Nazis at the Waldorf Astoria (June 19, 2021) “This is a story about people who have gone to audacious, often criminal, lengths to control presidents, princes, and prime ministers.”
14 Hitler’s American Business Friends (September 9, 2021) The early days of American intelligence featured allegations of a secret brotherhood, orgies, and profound business ties to Hitler’s regime.
15 “People Taking What They Wanted.” (September 13, 2021) Jeffrey Epstein teaches at a private school.
16 The Emirates and the NBA (October 27, 2021) BCCI, a filthy and scandalous bank, was present at the very forming of the United Arab Emirates as a nation.
17 Pablo Escobar in a Celtics Hat (October 29, 2021) The 76ers and Hawks billionaires, their colleagues at Apollo, and their shared history at Drexel Burnham Lambert in the 1980s.
18 “A New Kind of Superrich” (November 4, 2021) A $6 million birthday party with Donald Trump on the guest list and, reportedly, “hookers galore.”
19 The NBA Goes to Abu Dhabi (November 16, 2021) TrueHoop’s deep dive into the relationship between Abu Dhabi, Apollo Global, Jeffrey Epstein, and the NBA.
20 Steve Bannon and Jeffrey Epstein (December 10, 2021) What was that relationship really about?
21 The Epstein Story Is Like a Spy Novel (January 16, 2022) Michael Milken’s coworkers called him “Shep,” after a criminal mastermind, from a Robert Ludlum spy thriller. Ludlum said those stories were inspired by David Rockefeller, who was a real-life mentor of Jeffrey Epstein.
Beyond the Core Series
Private Equity Is a Money Laundering Loophole (March 4, 2022) It’s a business that’s useful to offshore money.
Robber Barons and Monsters (August 28, 2020) Kompromat, Ponzi schemes, Jeffrey Epstein, and the path to NBA billions.
Insight from Jeffrey Epstein’s Deceased Former Business Partner (August 30, 2022) Steve Hoffenberg—one of the few people who worked with Epstein and would talk publicly about it—was found dead. What he told us.
Leon Black Talks Jeffrey Epstein (April 5, 2024) The Apollo Global founder “didn’t take it that seriously.”
New documents: 2025–2026
New documents, new names, new connections.
This Epstein Story Is Not Only About Sex (July 24, 2025) Follow the money. Intelligence, kompromat, crypto, Harvard, and more.
When Josh Harris and Jeffrey Epstein Email (January 31, 2026) A sports billionaire—the owner of the Philadelphia 76ers — in the Epstein files.
More NBA Names in the Epstein Files (February 5, 2026) Leonsis, Wasserman, Ressler, Tisch, Karp, and Eva Dubin’s NBA connection.
Mealymouthing Around (February 21, 2026) Adam Silver and Leslie Wexner face the press but avoid the pointed questions about Epstein.
Jeffrey Epstein’s Sports Ties (February 27, 2026) The Washington Commanders changed hands, from one group with Epstein ties to another.
About This Reporting
All of this work was done by Henry Abbott, who has covered the NBA since the 1990s and founded TrueHoop as an independent blog in 2005. In 2007, it was purchased by ESPN and became the flagship NBA blog. In 2014, Henry came to oversee all NBA coverage in digital ad print. TrueHoop launched as an independent publication in 2019.
This investigation has developed a cult following among people who work inside the sport and know these billionaires. They want someone to ask the questions nobody else was asking.
If you came here from somewhere else and want to understand what TrueHoop is, this investigation is actually a good introduction. This is what we do: we follow the money, ask uncomfortable questions, and don’t look away.
A well-placed source tells us that everyone involved in this scandal assumes no one will get in trouble, because Trump will pardon anyone at risk. It’s his guess that no one will expose this network in any meaningful way—unless and until some involved is led off in handcuffs.
And so if we’re going to break up this insane criminal ring with extraordinary access to power, we have our marching orders. It’s a critical moment. The three million Epstein files are a chance to expose the filthy among the elite. We got this far with the incredible support of TrueHoop’s awesome subscribers. Your support goes a long way to empowering us to keep doing this work, more powerfully than ever.
Great to compile all this in one place - Thanks
THANK YOU Henry! It wasn't the Epstein stuff that got me to subscribe, but it was definitely some of this that made sure I subscribed when I could finally afford to. Henry, this should definitely be a book, and it needs to be optioned for TV. Also, is there any way to do gift articles? Because oooooffff, I've got some conspiracy-minded relatives that would love this stuff, but they're not going to read it, no matter HOW much I tell them it's not just a basketball blog.