Marc Becker, Apollo’s impact investing co-head, dies at 51

Marc Becker, a 27-year veteran of Apollo Global Management Inc. and co-head of impact investing at the private equity firm, died Monday. He was 51.

The cause was pancreatic cancer, according to an email from Park Avenue Synagogue in Manhattan, where he was recently chairman of the board.

Becker, a partner, joined Apollo in 1996 as its 14th employee after working as an analyst at Smith Barney. He served on the firm’s private equity investment committee throughout his tenure and previously oversaw investments in sectors including business services, transportation and logistics, and financial services. He also served as chair of ADT Corp. 

“We have lost a larger-than-life presence who made an indelible mark on Apollo,” Chief Executive Officer Marc Rowan and Co-Presidents Scott Kleinman and Jim Zelter said in a message to employees. “We will remember him as a dedicated and loyal class-act, who was gracious and generous to all, and helped create and enhance some of our most well-known Apollo traditions.”

Becker, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, also previously chaired the board of the TEAK Fellowship, which helps New York students from low-income families get into selective high schools and colleges. He was a member of the University of Pennsylvania’s undergraduate financial aid leadership council.

“It was the personal example that Marc set for us all – our ‘warrior-mensch’ – that will forever serve as his leadership legacy,” Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove of Park Avenue Synagogue said in the email.

Becker is survived by his wife, Caryn, and three children.