Shortly before the start of a sensational trial, Apollo reached a settlement with two former executives of its insurance subsidiary Athene.

Apollo had accused the two former managers of helping former top partner Imran Siddiqui in building up the rival Caldera. It was determined in an arbitration proceeding in 2019 that Siddiqui and Ming Dang, then an Apollo employee, had violated their duty of loyalty by passing on Apollo and Athene documents. Instead of the demanded 300 million dollars, the duo only had to pay 1 million dollars in damages.

In the now-settled lawsuit, Apollo demanded $30 million from Cernich and Tseng, who had always emphasized not knowing about Siddiqui's obligations to Apollo. Both now work – like Siddiqui and Dang – at Talcott Resolution, a life insurer owned by Sixth Street Partners, one of Apollo's toughest competitors.

The lawsuit was considered explosive, as not only Apollo co-founder Marc Rowan would have had to testify in the process, but also previously secret details about the formation of Athene would have been made public. Athene, now the centerpiece of Apollo's private credit model and a key growth driver for a corporation with a market value of over $80 billion, also has a separate case pending against Siddiqui and Cernich in Bermuda.