Les Wexner

“He is a billionaire and has been a philanthropist to diverse charities and a significant donor to political campaigns. Over the years, Wexner built a retailing and marketing conglomerate, which currently includes Victoria’s Secret, Pink (Victoria’s Secret), Bath & Body Works, Henri Bendel, The White Barn Candle Company, and La Senza. Previous brands that were spun off include: Lane Bryant, Abercrombie & Fitch, Lerner New York, The Limited Too (now Tween Brands, Inc.), Structure 9, Aura Science, The Limited (which has closed its brick-and-mortar stores, but retaining its online presence), and Express (which has closed its Canadian stores and hundreds of its US-based stores).

Wexner was born to a Jewish family[4] in Dayton, Ohio,[5] to Bella (née Cabakoff) and Harry Wexner.[6] He has one sister, Susan.[6] He attended Ohio State University, majoring in business administration.[5] He became a member of Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity. He briefly attended the Moritz College of Law.

In 1989, Wexner and his mother Bella were the first to make a $1 million personal donation to the United Way. Both of their names were inscribed in marble, and are on display in the lobby of the United Way Headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia.[11]

Wexner is the wealthiest man in Ohio.[12] He is known for his philanthropy, often to Jewish and Catholic projects.[citation needed] He serves as honorary vice chairman of Congregation Agudas Achim, in Bexley. He was a major funder of the Wexner Center for the Arts at the Ohio State University, the name of which is intended to honor his father.[13]

In 1984, he established the Wexner Foundation whose goal is to strengthen the field of Jewish leadership. The foundation runs three major programs: the Wexner Heritage Program for North American Jewish volunteers: the Graduate Fellowship for students pursuing a master’s degree in the rabbinate, cantorate, or Jewish studies; and an Israel Fellowship which funds Israeli public officials for a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.[citation needed]

Wexner served on the board of trustees of Ohio State University from 1988 to 1997. In December 2005, Wexner was appointed to his second term and was elected chairman in 2009. It was announced in June 2012 that Wexner’s chairmanship was to end, eight years before his appointment would have ended.[14]

On May 11, 2004, Wexner received the Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship at a dinner in Columbus, Ohio. The award was presented by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.

On February 16, 2011, Wexner pledged a donation of $100 million to Ohio State, which will be allocated to the University’s academic Medical Center and James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, with additional gifts to the Wexner Center for the Arts and other areas. This latest gift is the largest in the University’s history.[15]

Through the L Brands Foundation, Wexner and L Brands contributed $163.4 million to the Columbus Foundation.[16]

On February 10, 2012, Ohio State University Medical Center officially changed its name to the Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State University commemorating “Mr. Wexner’s indelible, lifelong legacy of leadership at Ohio State”, according to university president E. Gordon Gee. “For more than three decades, Mr. Wexner has been one of the University’s most committed leaders and ardent supporters. His generous contributions, both in time and resources, have been wholly transformational, but his most valuable gift has been his remarkable leadership.”[17]

On December 11, 2013, Wexner was awarded the Women’s Wear Daily Beauty Inc. Visionary award.[18]

On January 23, 1993, Wexner, then 55 years of age, married Abigail S. Koppel, 31, an attorney, in a ceremony at their home in New Albany, Ohio.[19] The couple have four children: Harry, Hannah, David, and Sarah.[20]

Formerly of the Bexley area of Columbus, Ohio, Wexner now lives in New Albany, a community northeast of that city. He owns a 30-room, $47 million, Georgian-inspired estate, on nearly 336 acres(4 km²), that was built in 1990. The estate, was, for twenty years, the location of the Annual New Albany Classic Invitational Grand Prix & Family Day benefiting The Center for Family Safety and Healing. The Classic consistently drew the top professional show jumping riders because of its elaborate and well-maintained jumping course.[citation needed] In February 2018, Abigail Wexner announced the end of the event, citing the growing number of elite equestrian competitions.[21]

As a pun on his name and his former residence in Bexley, the village of New Albany was known (unofficially) for some time as Wexley. Today, this Georgian-themed village inspires comparison to eighteenth century developments by wealthy aristocrats in England.[citation needed]

Wexner has owned the mid-eighteenth century Grade II* listed Foxcote House in Warwickshire, England, since 1997.[22]

The Limitless (Palma de Mallorca, 2006)

At the time of its construction in 1997, Wexner’s Limitless was the largest American-owned private yacht, measuring 315 feet and 8 inches (96.25 meters) long and 41 feet (12.50 meters) wide. Few authorized images exist, but photographs of the yacht’s interior appear in an October 2016 retrospective of the career of the yacht’s interior designer, François Catroux, written by David Netto and published by Rizzoli.[23] The Limitless is one of the largest privately owned yachts in use.[24]

Wexner had a close relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, who managed Wexner’s financial assets. Wexner and Epstein parted when Epstein went to prison.[25]Wexner was believed to be the primary source of Epstein’s wealth. [26]

President George W. Bush appointed Wexner to serve in the Honorary Delegation to accompany him to Jerusalem for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel in May 2008.[27][28]

Wexner was inducted as an honorary member into the 104th Class of Sphinx Senior Class Honorary at The Ohio State University on May 7, 2010.[29]

On February 10, 2012, The Ohio State University board of trustees voted to rename The Ohio State University Medical Center in honor of Wexner, in recognition of his leadership and service to the university and the medical center. Now the medical center is known as Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State University.[30]

Wexner hosted a fundraiser for Mitt Romney in 2012.[31] Wexner donated $250,000 to Restore Our Future, Romney’s Super PAC.[32] In 2015, Wexner donated $500,000 to the Right to Rise USA Super-Pac that supported the 2016 presidential campaign of Jeb Bush.[33]

The Columbus Dispatch reported on September 14, 2018 that Wexner had renounced his affiliation with the Republican Party due to changes in its nature. Wexner made his comment shortly after former President Obama gave a speech on the same Columbus Partnership panel Wexner would address.[34][35]

Les Wexner, head of Victoria’s Secret, distances himself from Jeffrey Epstein. David Goldman and Cristina Alesci, CNN Business July 15, 2019

“New York (CNN Business)Les Wexner, CEO and founder of Victoria’s Secret parent company, L Brands, has been caught up in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Speaking publicly about his connection for the first time since Epstein’s arrest, Wexner said Monday he severed ties with Epstein 12 years ago. [2007]
Epstein, a longtime associate of Wexner’s, is accused of running a sex-trafficking enterprise, in which he paid girls as young as 14 to have sex with him at his Upper East Side home and his estate in Palm Beach, Florida. Prosecutors say he used employees and associates to lure the girls to his residences, and then paid some of his victims to recruit other girls for him to abuse.
Epstein has been charged with one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of minors related to alleged conduct that occurred between 2002 and 2005. He has pleaded not guilty.
In a note to L Brands (LB) employees Tuesday, Wexner described Epstein as his former personal money manager. Epstein also served as a trustee of the Wexner Foundation, Les Wexner’s charitable group based in Ohio. The Wexner Foundation works to develop Jewish professional and volunteer leaders across North America and public leaders in Israel.
Wexner became embroiled in the Epstein scandal when one of Epstein’s alleged victims accused Epstein of sexually assaulting her in Wexner’s home, according to an affidavit filed in a New York court in April. The affidavit is part of a defamation lawsuit against high-profile attorney Alan Dershowitz, claiming that he made “false and malicious” statements about a woman who claims to be a victim of Epstein. Dershowitz has repeatedly denied the accusations.
In his letter sent Monday, Wexner distanced himself from his former associate.
“I would never have guessed that a person I employed more than a decade ago could have caused such pain to so many people,” Wexner wrote. “My heart goes out to each and every person who has been hurt.”
Wexner denied knowledge of the illegal activity of which Epstein stands accused.
“I would not have continued to work with any individual capable of such egregious, sickening behavior as has been reported about him. As you can imagine, this past week I have searched my soul … reflected … and regretted that my path ever crossed his.”
— CNN’s Erica Orden and Kara Scannell”