Leon Black and Ronald Lauder Joined Forces to Buy Masterpieces, Epstein Files Show
U.S. Department of Justice releases of millions of Jeffrey Epstein investigation files in early February 2026 revealed that New York collectors Leon Black and Ronald Lauder sometimes bought major artworks together, according to internal emails and spreadsheets. The documents show that in 2015 Black’s art and collectibles were valued at $2.8 billion—more than half of his $4.9 billion net worth—and included nearly 1,000 art assets, from Chinese bronzes (about $330 million) to works on paper by Raphael, Leonardo, Rembrandt, and Michelangelo. Three works were listed as jointly owned 50/50 by Black and Lauder’s Neue Galerie: Max Beckmann’s Self-Portrait with Horn (1938), Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s Stehendes Madchen Kantatide (1910), and Kirchner’s Berliner Strassenszene (1913–14), purchased for a total of $31.6 million and appraised by Christie’s in 2016 at $93.5 million. Representatives for Black declined to comment and Lauder’s representative did not immediately respond; neither man was accused of wrongdoing in the report.
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This story was covered in Secrets, Scandals, and Power Plays in Art