Marc Rowan, the billionaire investor, chief executive officer of Apollo Global Management, and owner of Duryea’s Lobster Deck on Fort Pond Bay in Montauk, is an appointed member of the executive boards of the Trump administration-led Board of Peace and the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza.
The stated goals of both are to stabilize and rebuild the Palestinian territory, where almost 70,000 Palestinians have been killed and an estimated 83 percent of structures destroyed or damaged since the October 2023 terrorist attack on Israel perpetrated by Hamas, the nationalist and militant organization that governed the Gaza Strip until late last year.
The executive boards have drawn criticism owing to their composition: Like Mr. Rowan, whose net worth is estimated by Forbes at $6.8 billion, those named are known more for investment, real estate, and political experience than traditional peace-negotiating backgrounds. Along with Mr. Rowan, the founding executive board of the Board of Peace includes Jared Kushner, a businessman, investor, and the president’s son-in-law; Steve Witkoff, a real estate developer, investor, and lead American negotiator during indirect talks with Iran prior to the American and Israeli attack on that country that began on Saturday; Robert Gabriel, a political adviser and aide to the Trump administration, and Ajay Banga, a business executive and president of the World Bank Group. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and former United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair also serve on the executive board.
According to Forbes, Mr. Rowan and his wife donated $1 million to Mr. Trump’s unsuccessful 2020 campaign for re-election.
“Each executive board member will oversee a defined portfolio critical to Gaza’s stabilization and long-term success,” according to a Jan. 16 statement from the White House, “including, but not limited to, governance capacity-building, regional relations, reconstruction, investment attraction, large-scale funding, and capital mobilization.”
The National Committee for the Administration of Gaza’s executive board also includes Mr. Kushner, Mr. Witkoff, and Mr. Blair, along with Mr. Rowan. “The board will help support effective governance and the delivery of best-in-class services that advance peace, stability, and prosperity for the people of Gaza,” according to the White House.
Mr. Rowan has had a chilly relationship with East Hampton Town, with multiple legal disputes regarding permits, zoning, and the operation of food service at Duryea’s, the Montauk institution he bought in 2014. Following his acquisition of Perry B. Duryea & Son Inc., several neighbors expressed concern over expanding use on the property, which they said was encroaching on their own properties in the form of increased traffic, pollution, and environmental damage. Residents of the Tuthill Road Association launched a GoFundMe campaign in 2019, which they said was necessary to protect the neighborhood’s character and quality of life from activities associated with Duryea’s.
Along with their alma mater, the Wharton School of Business, Mr. Rowan and Mr. Trump have something else in common. Last month, The Star reported that Mr. Rowan had met with the late financier and child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on multiple occasions, and that Mr. Epstein tried to buy Mr. Rowan’s private jet in 2016. Mr. Trump has long downplayed his relationship with Mr. Epstein, despite ample evidence of their close relationship over many years.
