When investors in Apollo Global Management learned last week that the firm’s chief executive had paid $158 million to the registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, they hardly blinked.After the private equity firm announced the figure, revealed by an outside investigation, its stock rose nearly 7 percent. That was a far different response from three months ago, when shares plunged over concerns about the financial ties between Mr. Epstein and the chief executive, Leon Black.Apollo soothed investors’ nerves with its announcement that Mr. Black, one of its founders, will step down as chief executive and that the firm will expand …
