A long-running legal battle involving Apollo Global Management, Athene and former senior executive Imran Siddiqui has finally come to an end — but only after Siddiqui acknowledged that he breached fiduciary duties by sending and receiving confidential Athene information while attempting to establish a competing insurance business.
Athene Holding and Siddiqui announced on September 18 that they had reached a settlement resolving legal proceedings that began in the Supreme Court of Bermuda in May 2018.
The financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
As part of the agreement, Siddiqui acknowledged that during 2016 and 2017, he sent and received documents containing confidential Athene information in connection with the creation of Caldera Holdings, a company he was attempting to establish as a competitor.
He further acknowledged that his conduct constituted a breach of fiduciary duties owed to Athene.
The admission was made as part of the settlement rather than as a verdict following the scheduled Bermuda trial. The Financial Times subsequently clarified that Siddiqui’s acknowledgment of improper conduct was made outside the formal court process.
From Apollo insider to rival insurance founder
The dispute traces back to Siddiqui’s time at Apollo.
A former Goldman Sachs investment banker, Siddiqui joined Apollo in 2008 and became a senior partner. He worked closely with Apollo co-founder Marc Rowan in developing the firm’s annuities and private-credit businesses and served as an Apollo-nominated director of Athene.
He left Apollo in 2017 and subsequently worked on establishing Caldera Holdings, a proposed life-insurance and investment business.
The Bermuda litigation alleged that confidential and proprietary Athene information had been improperly used in connection with Caldera’s efforts to develop a competing business.
Court records show that Athene filed its proceedings on May 3, 2018, seeking injunctions and damages over alleged breaches of fiduciary duties, confidentiality obligations and contractual duties.
The dispute continued for years through jurisdictional, discovery and other procedural battles.
Now, after eight years, the case has been settled.
What Siddiqui admitted
The central development is the wording of the settlement announcement.
Siddiqui acknowledged that he had sent and received documents containing confidential Athene information in 2016 and 2017 while working on the establishment of Caldera.
He also acknowledged that this conduct breached fiduciary duties he owed to Athene.
Importantly, he said he did not believe at the time that his actions constituted a breach, but now accepts that he should have known that sending and receiving the documents violated his obligations.
Athene and Siddiqui agreed not to comment further, and the financial and other settlement terms remain confidential.
The case is connected to an earlier Apollo arbitration
The Bermuda settlement is not the only legal dispute stemming from Siddiqui’s departure from Apollo.
A separate 2019 arbitration involving Apollo, Siddiqui, Ming Dang and Caldera produced findings concerning the handling of Apollo confidential information and Siddiqui’s activities while he was still connected to the firm.
According to the arbitration record, Siddiqui had involved Ming Dang, then a junior Apollo investment professional, in work connected to the startup while Dang remained employed by Apollo.
The arbitrator found breaches involving fiduciary duties and confidential information. Dang was ordered to pay $1 million in damages and surrender certain investment interests, while Siddiqui was ordered to pay $150,000 in punitive damages. Apollo had initially sought substantially more in damages.
The 2019 arbitration is separate from the newly settled Athene Bermuda proceedings and should not be treated as the same case.
The rival business was at the center of the dispute
The legal conflict arose while Caldera was exploring opportunities in the insurance industry.
Bermuda court records say Athene alleged that Siddiqui and others had used its trade secrets and confidential information for the benefit of Caldera and themselves.
The records also describe a situation in which Caldera was pursuing an insurance company that Athene was interested in acquiring.
Contemporary reporting and court records identified the target as American Equity Investment Life Holding Co., an Iowa-based annuity specialist.
That created a particularly sensitive conflict: Siddiqui was attempting to build a competing insurance operation after having held a senior position at Apollo and served as an Apollo-nominated director of Athene.
More former Athene executives became entangled
The dispute also involved former Athene executives.
Athene’s original Bermuda proceedings named Siddiqui, former Athene executive Stephen Cernich and Caldera Holdings as defendants, according to Bermuda reporting and court records.
Cernich had worked at Athene and affiliated companies, including as chief actuary and executive vice-president.
Another former Athene executive, Huan Tseng, was also involved in separate litigation connected to the dispute.
Apollo settled a New York civil lawsuit involving Tseng and Cernich in 2025. The former executives had denied knowing about Siddiqui’s obligations to Apollo, and the settlement terms were not disclosed.
The newly announced Athene settlement specifically resolves the proceedings against Siddiqui and Caldera. The announcement did not address the status of Cernich in the same terms.
Siddiqui now runs Talcott Financial Group
Perhaps the most notable aspect of the story is where Siddiqui is today.
He is now chief executive officer of Talcott Financial Group, an international life-insurance company backed by Sixth Street Partners.
Talcott appointed Siddiqui CEO in October 2023 after he had served as interim president. The company said at the time that he had extensive experience in life insurance, annuities and financial services.
Talcott’s current leadership page continues to list Siddiqui as CEO.
His career therefore spans three major chapters: a senior role at Apollo, the attempt to establish Caldera as a competing insurance business, and his current leadership of Talcott.
The legal history goes back nearly a decade
The dispute’s longevity highlights how complicated litigation involving confidential information, fiduciary duties and competing financial businesses can become.
Athene’s Bermuda case was filed in 2018.
At the same time, Siddiqui and Caldera became involved in additional litigation with Apollo.
Apollo’s 2019 SEC filings disclosed that Caldera had brought a separate New York lawsuit seeking at least $1.5 billion in damages against Apollo-related defendants, alleging tortious interference, defamation/trade disparagement and unfair competition. Apollo disputed those claims.
A New York court later addressed aspects of that dispute, while the separate arbitration involving Siddiqui and others produced its own findings.
These proceedings were distinct from the Bermuda case settled this week.
Why the admission matters
The latest development is significant because fiduciary duties are fundamental to relationships between senior executives, directors and the companies they serve.
The settlement does not establish a new criminal prosecution or criminal conviction.
Instead, Siddiqui has made a specific civil admission as part of resolving Athene’s longstanding claims.
That distinction matters.
The settlement announcement does not disclose how much money changed hands, whether any additional restrictions were imposed, or the full terms negotiated between the parties.
Athene and Siddiqui have said they will not comment further.
Apollo’s scale puts the dispute in perspective
Apollo has grown dramatically since the period when Siddiqui worked there.
The Financial Times reported that Apollo has a market capitalization of roughly $75 billion and manages more than $800 billion in assets, with a significant portion of its business tied to credit investments associated with Athene’s annuity operations.
That makes the dispute more than an old employment disagreement.
It touches on the protection of proprietary information in one of the financial industry’s most competitive areas: life insurance, annuities, retirement products and private credit.
The bigger lesson for Wall Street
The Siddiqui-Athene case also illustrates a recurring problem in the financial-services industry.
Senior executives often possess extensive knowledge about investment strategies, acquisition targets, business models, clients and proprietary data.
When those executives leave to establish competing businesses, the boundaries between legitimate professional knowledge and protected corporate information can become the subject of years of litigation.
The Athene case shows just how long those disputes can remain unresolved.
Eight years after the original proceedings were filed, the case has now been brought to a close.
But the settlement also leaves a striking final chapter:
A former Apollo insider who went on to lead another major insurance company has formally acknowledged that confidential Athene documents were improperly sent and received while he was trying to build a competing business.
The financial terms remain secret.
And the legal battle is finally over — but the admission ensures that the dispute will remain part of the public record surrounding one of the financial industry’s most closely watched executive departures.
