Leon Black Makes Way for One of His Disciples at Apollo (1)

The two men spent decades tracing the same path to riches and power -- from Wharton to Michael Milken and finally to Leon Black, one of the most feared dealmakers in the business.

But now the path has diverged for Marc Rowan and Joshua Harris, with only one of them emerging as Black’s anointed heir at the mighty Apollo Global Management Inc.

The winner: Rowan, the quiet strategist behind some of the private-equity giant’s most lucrative plays. Harris, his extroverted younger co-founder and co-owner of the Philadelphia 76ers basketball team, has been passed over.

Marc Rowan in 2014.

Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg

Rowan, 58, made ...