Apollo, Carlyle Sued Over $1 Billion in Payments to Founders

Pension funds sued Apollo Global Management Inc. and Carlyle Group Inc. in Delaware over claims that the private equity giants separately agreed to pay nearly $1 billion in total to buy out tax benefits held by their founders on terms that made them worthless.

The separate lawsuits were made public Oct. 22 in Delaware’s Chancery Court, where they were filed by the same attorneys on behalf of Pittsburgh’s municipal pension plan—a Carlyle investor—and the Social Security Board for the Caribbean country of Anguilla, which holds Apollo shares.

The suits don’t allege wrongdoing outright. Instead, they seek internal files from both ...