Apollo announces that cofounder Josh Harris is stepping down, 2 months after former CEO Leon Black quit

• Josh Harris, one of the cofounders of Apollo Global Management, is stepping down, the firm said Thursday.
• Harris would remain on the board of directors and executive committee, Apollo said.
• Leon Block, the Apollo cofounder who was investigated for ties to Jeffrey Epstein, quit the firm in March.

Investment firm Apollo Global Management on Thursday announced that cofounder Josh Harris would step down as managing director.

He would step down once Apollo merges with its insurance affiliate Athene, the company said in a statement. Apollo's acquisition of Athene, which is set to create a $29 billion conglomerate, is expected to complete in the first quarter of 2022.

Harris would remain on the Apollo board of directors and executive committee, the firm said.

Harris said in the statement: "After nearly 31 years at Apollo, it is time for me to start the next chapter of my career, where I will focus full-time on the platforms I've created outside of the firm as well as deepen my commitment to philanthropy and social impact."

Read more: We talked to billionaires, business titans and an NBA star about the Apollo cofounder who wants to buy the New York Mets. Here's how he can apply his private equity turnaround playbook to a team that haven't won a World Series since 1986.

Fellow cofounder Leon Black, former CEO and chairman of Apollo, quit the firm in March. Black's departure followed an independent investigation into his relationship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which showed Black paid $158 million to the disgraced financier between 2012 to 2017.

The investigation found that neither Black nor Apollo employees were involved in Epstein's criminal activities.