Apollo’s Outgoing Legal Chief Earned Nearly $8.4 Million (1)

Apollo Global Management Inc.'s longtime chief legal officer John Suydam received about $8.4 million in total compensation during fiscal 2022, the private equity firm disclosed in a proxy statement filed late Friday.

Suydam earned $2.5 million in annual base salary and more than $3.9 million in stock awards, the filing shows. Apollo gave Suydam an additional $1.9 million in other compensation, a sum that includes a $250,000 partner benefits stipend, according to the company’s proxy.

Suydam, who joined Apollo in 2006, is poised to step down at year’s end and transition to a senior advisory role. He had not previously been listed as one of the private equity giant’s highest-paid executives.

Whitney Chatterjee, a former partner at Sullivan & Cromwell, is set to replace Suydam. Chatterjee was hired by Apollo earlier this year as general counsel for its asset management and retirement services business.

W. Jay Clayton III, a former chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, earned roughly $338,000 in total compensation as an Apollo director. Clayton is now an of counsel and senior policy adviser at Sullivan & Cromwell in New York.

Mitra Hormozi, a former top lawyer at Revlon Inc. and current partner at New York’s Walden Macht & Haran, received more than $752,400 as an Apollo director, according to its proxy.

Apollo didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The New York-based company has long had close ties to Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, which within the past year has advised Apollo on major fundraisings, investments, and acquisitions.

Apollo’s warring co-founders Leon Black and Josh Harris have also been keeping legions of lawyers busy for different reasons. Marc Rowan, Apollo’s current chief executive, is stewarding the company into a new era.

Suydam currently owns nearly $29 million in Apollo stock, per Bloomberg data. Compensation information for Chatterjee, Suydam’s successor as legal chief, wasn’t included in Apollo’s most recent proxy.

KKR & Co. Inc., another investment giant, disclosed in a separate securities filing this month that it awarded 100,000 shares worth roughly $6 million to its new general counsel Kathryn “Katie” King Sudol. The former Simpson Thacher & Bartlett partner earned $18.6 million in total compensation from KKR last year.