--- alias: - Les Wexner - Leslie H. Wexner - Leslie Herbert Wexner born: 1937-09-08 category: Crime & Abuse Networks created: 2026-06-20 location: New Albany, Ohio relations: - end: 2007 fn: 1 reverse: true role: personal financial adviser; power of attorney from July 1991 start: 1987 type: employed_by with: '[[Jeffrey Epstein]]' - fn: 23 reverse: true role: Wexner's counsel; declined to accept service of the Virgin Islands subpoena start: 2023-02 type: represented with: '[[Zeiger, Tigges & Little]]' summary: Founder of The Limited and L Brands who granted Jeffrey Epstein power of attorney over his fortune in 1991 and later said Epstein misappropriated vast sums from him. tags: - Person - LesWexner - JeffreyEpstein - LBrands - VictoriasSecret - MegaGroup - Finance - NewAlbany updated: 2026-09-25 --- Leslie Herbert Wexner founded the Columbus, Ohio retailer The Limited in 1963 and built it into the holding company later known as L Brands, owner of Victoria's Secret, Bath & Body Works, Lane Bryant and Express. From the late 1980s until around 2007 [Jeffrey Epstein](/people/jeffrey-epstein/) served as Wexner's personal financial adviser, and in 1991 Wexner granted Epstein a sweeping power of attorney over his finances.[^1] ### Business Career Wexner opened the first Limited store in 1963 at the Kingsdale Shopping Center in Upper Arlington, near Columbus, using a 5,000 dollar loan from his aunt and 5,000 dollars borrowed from a bank.[^2] He named the shop The Limited because he limited its stock to women's sportswear and separates rather than carrying a full line of dresses and coats, and the store recorded first-year sales of about 160,000 dollars.[^2] Through the 1970s and 1980s he expanded it into a portfolio of mall retailers including The Limited, Limited Express and Lane Bryant.[^3] Wexner acquired Victoria's Secret in 1982 from founder Roy Raymond for about one million dollars, taking over five stores, a catalog and roughly six million dollars in annual sales from a company that was approaching bankruptcy.[^4] He recast the brand from a male-oriented novelty shop into a mass-market lingerie chain, inventing a fictional London address and remaking the catalog and store aesthetics, and by 1995 Victoria's Secret operated several hundred stores with sales in the billions.[^4] Raymond founded a children's retailer that failed and died by suicide in 1993.[^4] In 1990 Wexner launched Bath & Body Works, whose first store opened that September in a Cambridge, Massachusetts mall, and the personal-care brand grew into one of the company's largest divisions.[^5] The parent firm operated for decades as Limited Brands and was renamed L Brands in 2013.[^3] Wexner developed the village of New Albany, Ohio outside Columbus from rural land into an upscale planned suburb, building an estate there and steering corporate and residential development.[^6] Jeffrey Epstein became a general partner in the New Albany real estate holding company and, according to property records, held roles in entities tied to the development.[^6] In 1991 Wexner co-founded the [Mega Group](/organizations/mega-group/), a private network of wealthy Jewish American philanthropists and businessmen, with Seagram heir Charles Bronfman.[^7] [The Wall Street Journal](/organizations/the-wall-street-journal/) reported in May 1998 that the group, originally called the Study Group, which grew from about 20 founding members toward 50 and charged dues of roughly 30,000 dollars a year, met twice annually for seminars on philanthropy and Jewish affairs.[^8] The group was founded in the same year Wexner gave Epstein power of attorney over his finances.[^1] ### New Albany, Ohio Beginning in the 1980s Wexner bought up land in New Albany, then a Central Ohio village of a few hundred people about 20 minutes northeast of Columbus, partnering with developer Jack Kessler in an entity that the two men later formalized as the New Albany Company.[^9] Locals nicknamed the planned town "Wexley," a portmanteau of Wexner and Bexley, the affluent Columbus suburb where he had previously lived, and the New Albany Company became the area's dominant landowner, holding roughly 80 percent of the municipality at points and shaping development through a public-private partnership with the local government.[^9] The village's population grew from about 1,600 in 1990 to more than 10,000, with a median household income several times the Ohio average.[^9] Epstein signed incorporation paperwork for the New Albany Company as its president alongside Wexner, according to Ohio state records, and owned a residence on the Wexner estate before the relationship ended in 2007.[^9] Wexner built a Georgian-style mansion on a roughly 336-acre estate along Kitzmiller Road that ranks among the largest private residences in Ohio.[^9] The New Albany Company later assembled a large business park along Route 161 and sold land to technology firms including Amazon, Facebook and Google, generating proceeds for a company subsidiary.[^9] ### Wexner Foundation and Philanthropy Wexner established the [Wexner Foundation](/organizations/wexner-foundation/) and the related Wexner Heritage Foundation in 1984 to develop Jewish lay and professional leadership in North America and public-sector leaders in Israel.[^10] The foundation's programs include the Wexner Heritage Program, a two-year intensive Jewish learning course for young volunteer leaders, along with the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, the Wexner Israel Fellows and other tracks.[^10] Wexner also funded institutions at The Ohio State University and the Harvard Kennedy School, where the Wexner-Israel Fellowship trained Israeli officials.[^10] Epstein became a trustee of the foundation. Wexner wrote in 2019 that "in the early 1990s Mr. Epstein became a trustee of The Wexner Foundation, but he had no executive responsibilities in the running of the Foundation. He did not work directly with Foundation staff, and he did not engage with leadership initiatives in any way."[^11] Vanity Fair reported in 2003 that in 1992 Epstein persuaded Wexner to put him on the foundation's board in place of Wexner's ailing mother, Bella Wexner, who recovered and demanded to be reinstated; Epstein said the two settled it by splitting the foundation in two. A source close to Wexner told the magazine that Wexner had assigned Epstein "the power of fiduciary over all of his private trusts and foundations."[^12] Abigail Koppel, a 31-year-old lawyer, married Wexner in 1993, and the couple settled in Ohio; in 1996 Epstein moved into Wexner's Manhattan townhouse.[^12] Epstein drafted the prenuptial agreement for the marriage.[^13] In 2008 Epstein directed a portion of recovered funds toward a foundation associated with Abigail Wexner.[^14] ### Relationship With Jeffrey Epstein Wexner and Jeffrey Epstein were introduced in the mid-1980s; later reporting placed the meeting around 1986 through insurance executive Robert Meister, who had met Epstein on a flight to [Palm Beach](/places/palm-beach-florida/).[^13] Wexner wrote in 2019 that he met Epstein "through friends who vouched for and recommended him as a knowledgeable financial professional," and that "Mr. Epstein represented that he had various well-known and respected individuals both as his financial clients and in his inner circle."[^11] Epstein told people he met Wexner in 1986 in Palm Beach and won his confidence by advising him to stay out of the stock market before the 1987 crash; asked by Vanity Fair whether Wexner had known of his work for [Steven Hoffenberg](/people/steven-hoffenberg/) at [Towers Financial Corporation](/organizations/towers-financial-corporation/), Epstein said he had begun working for Wexner in 1989 and that "it was certainly not the same time." Before he was engaged, Epstein met several times with Harold Levin, then head of Wexner Investments, who found his ideas about currencies incomprehensible; a former Limited vice-chairman, Robert Morosky, said "everyone was mystified as to what his appeal was."[^12] Epstein became Wexner's financial adviser by 1987, and in July 1991 Wexner gave him a power of attorney that authorized Epstein to sign checks, borrow money, buy and sell property, and hire and fire on Wexner's behalf.[^1] A close Wexner adviser, Harold Levin, reportedly warned that he did not trust Epstein, telling Wexner he "smell[ed] a rat," and at least one board member commissioned a background investigation, but Wexner continued the relationship.[^13] According to the [New York Times](/organizations/new-york-times/) account, Epstein later engineered Levin's firing by accusing him of stealing from Wexner, an accusation that would subsequently be leveled at Epstein himself.[^15] A New York Times Magazine investigation published December 16, 2025 traced Epstein's accumulation of wealth back to his hiring at [Bear Stearns](/organizations/bear-stearns/) and his early targeting of wealthy businessmen, and detailed how his control over Wexner's accounts gave him unregulated access to fund real estate purchases, including property near [Mar-a-Lago](/places/mar-a-lago/) in Palm Beach, the [9 East 71st Street](/places/9-east-71st-street/) townhouse in Manhattan, and the New Albany mansion.[^13] Epstein also drafted the prenuptial agreement for Wexner's marriage to Abigail Koppel and obtained tax breaks for Epstein's [Little St. James](/places/little-st-james/) island in the [U.S. Virgin Islands](/places/us-virgin-islands/).[^13] The Times wrote that the central unanswered question was what Wexner gained from the relationship, and Wexner declined to participate in the investigation.[^15] Wexner described the relationship to Vanity Fair for its March 2003 profile: "I think we both possess the skill of seeing patterns. But Jeffrey sees patterns in politics and financial markets, and I see patterns in lifestyle and fashion trends." He called Epstein "very smart with a combination of excellent judgment and unusually high standards. Also, he is always a most loyal friend," and said that "Jeffrey has the unusual quality of knowing when he is winning." Epstein said, "People have said it's like we have one brain between two of us: each has a side." A person who worked for Wexner and saw their contract said Epstein was involved in "everything, not just a little here, a little there. Everything!" and that "Wexner likes having a hatchet man... Whenever there is dirty work to be done he'd stick Jeffrey on it." Epstein inserted himself into the construction of Wexner's 315-foot yacht Limitless, which led to litigation between Wexner and the shipyard, and the lawyer Lars Forsberg said his firm had to sue for its fees. When the co-investors in Riddell Sports bought out Epstein's stake in 1995 and asked him to guarantee access to a few million dollars against later disputes, Wexner signed for him.[^12] In a February 2026 deposition before members of the [House Oversight Committee](/organizations/house-committee-on-oversight-and-government-reform/), Wexner described himself as "naive, foolish, and gullible to put any trust in Jeffrey Epstein," calling him "a con man."[^16] He said he had revoked the power of attorney, removed Epstein from his accounts and terminated him in 2007, and that he was "neither a co-conspirator nor target" of investigators.[^17] [JPMorgan Chase](/organizations/jpmorgan-chase/) records cited in the released files placed the formal end of the financial relationship in February 2008, several months later than the 2007 date Wexner had publicly given.[^17] ### The 9 East 71st Street Townhouse Wexner purchased the townhouse at 9 East 71st Street on Manhattan's Upper East Side through a trust in 1989 for a reported 13.2 million dollars. The limestone mansion, one of the largest single-family residences in the city, had been built in the early 1930s and until 1989 housed the Birch Wathen School. Epstein moved in in 1996, and in 2003 Vanity Fair reported that public documents still showed the trust as owner while Epstein said he owned the house.[^12] The residence became Epstein's primary New York base and the site of much of the conduct later detailed in the federal sex-trafficking case against him. A 1998 purchase and sale agreement for the house involved a 10 million dollar promissory note and personal guaranty signed by Epstein.[^13] By 2011 the townhouse was held by Nine East 71st Street Corporation, described by the Virgin Islands government as "owned by Epstein," which on or about December 23, 2011 transferred it to Maple Inc., a Virgin Islands corporation Epstein had just formed. Maple's annual reports to the territory never listed the house, and for 2018 reported expenses of 300 dollars while it paid 336,471.87 dollars in [New York City](/places/new-york-city/) property taxes on it. The estate valued the townhouse corporation at 56 million dollars after Epstein's death.[^18] An [FBI](/organizations/federal-bureau-of-investigation/) internal memo among the files released under the [Epstein Files Transparency Act](/concepts/epstein-files-transparency-act/) stated that "Epstein controlled all of Wexner's personal finances with virtually no oversight" and described how Epstein sold himself a New York home and a private plane that had belonged to Wexner at a "deeply discounted price."[^19] The transfers of the townhouse and aircraft to Epstein-controlled entities for nominal or discounted sums became central to later accounts of how Epstein converted his control of Wexner's affairs into personal assets.[^19] ### Statements After Epstein's Arrest After Jeffrey Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges in July 2019, Wexner wrote to the Wexner Foundation community that "by early fall 2007, it was agreed that he should step back from the management of our personal finances. In that process, we discovered that he had misappropriated vast sums of money from me and my family." He described Epstein as "a person I employed more than a decade ago," wrote that Epstein "was given power of attorney as is common in that context, and he had wide latitude to act on my behalf," and said of the recovered money that "the widely reported payments Mr. Epstein made to the charitable fund represented a portion of the returned monies. All of that money - every dollar of it - was originally Wexner family money."[^11][^14] Reporting indicated the recovered sum exceeded 46 million dollars, a portion of which Epstein directed in 2008 to a foundation associated with Abigail Wexner.[^14] A spokesperson declined to specify the total amount allegedly taken or whether it had been reported to authorities.[^20] Documents in the 2026 [Epstein files](/concepts/epstein-files/) described a larger figure than the 46 million dollars cited in 2019. An investigative memo recorded that Wexner's attorneys told investigators in 2008 that Epstein had repaid him about 100 million dollars, described as only a portion of what he had taken, and that Abigail Wexner had taken over the family's finances and found Epstein had misappropriated "several hundred million dollars."[^17] Wexner provided documents to investigators that he said showed Epstein's alleged theft, but he did not publicly detail the full scope.[^20] The released files showed that Wexner and Epstein remained in contact after 2007. Following the announcement of Epstein's 2008 Florida plea deal, Wexner wrote a note saying he felt sorry and reminding Epstein to "always be careful," to which Epstein replied "no excuse."[^17] An FBI email from August 2019 labeled Wexner a "secondary co-conspirator" while noting "limited evidence regarding his involvement," and a Fox News account reported that an internal FBI memo had characterized him as an Epstein co-conspirator.[^19] In January 2026 the House Oversight Committee moved to subpoena Wexner over his ties to Epstein, and he was deposed at his Ohio home in February 2026.[^16] ### The Banks, the Lawyer and the 2023 Subpoena A May 2003 JPMorgan Chase due-diligence report stated that "Jeffrey Epstein, through the trading of his accounts and that of Leslie Wexner, generates one of the largest annual revenue flows of private clients in the private bank."[^21] Epstein's lawyer [Darren Indyke](/people/darren-indyke/) was listed as secretary of the Wexner Foundation in SEC filings from 1998 to 2001 and on its tax forms through 2006, and in 2008, after Epstein's departure from the Wexners' affairs, Abigail Wexner gave Indyke power of attorney over her condominium at 15 Central Park West, according to property records cited by *The Daily Beast* in 2020.[^22] In the [Virgin Islands' suit against JPMorgan](/events/government-of-the-united-states-virgin-islands-v-jpmorgan-chase-bank/), the territory's lawyers at [Motley Rice](/organizations/motley-rice/) sought to serve Wexner with a document subpoena in February 2023. According to their sworn declaration, on February 2, 2023 they asked Wexner's longtime Columbus lawyer John W. Zeiger of Zeiger, Tigges & Little whether he would accept service; Zeiger said he was unable to speak that day and did not return two follow-up calls. On February 15, 2023 his partner Marion Little said he had represented Wexner but would not accept service "without being given a detailed description of the Subpoena's contents," and, after hearing a general description, "instructed me not to send him the Subpoena." The territory moved on February 17, 2023 for an order authorizing service on Wexner by certified mail.[^23] [^1]: Heather Long and Renae Merle, "Lawyers Question Wexner's Financial Arrangement With Jeffrey Epstein," *WOSU / NPR,* 2019. https://www.wosu.org/news/2019-08-08/lawyers-question-wexners-financial-arrangement-with-jeffrey-epstein [^2]: "Leslie Wexner," *Entrepreneur,* on the 1963 founding of The Limited at Kingsdale Shopping Center with a 5,000 dollar loan and first-year sales of about 160,000 dollars. https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/leslie-wexner/197714 [^3]: "Les Wexner: How the billionaire enabled Jeffrey Epstein's rise," *Al Jazeera,* 2026. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/19/les-wexner-how-the-billionaire-enabled-jeffrey-epsteins-rise [^4]: "Victoria's Secret founding: Roy Raymond had a great idea, but Les Wexner was the one to see it through," *Slate,* 2013. https://slate.com/business/2013/10/victorias-secret-founding-roy-raymond-had-a-great-idea-but-les-wexner-was-the-one-to-see-it-through.html [^5]: For the 1990 founding of Bath & Body Works within The Limited and the first store in Cambridge, Massachusetts, see the L Brands corporate history and contemporaneous retail trade press. [^6]: "What do we know about Les Wexner and Epstein as deposition approaches?," *AOL / Columbus Dispatch,* 2026. https://www.aol.com/articles/know-les-wexner-epstein-deposition-193023473.html [^7]: Lisa Miller, "Titans of Industry Join Forces To Work for Jewish Philanthropy," *The Wall Street Journal,* May 4, 1998, on the 1991 founding by Leslie Wexner and Charles Bronfman. https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB894240270899870000 (an earlier version of this footnote gave the byline as Robert Frank; the Lisa Miller byline is as reported in later coverage and was not verified against the WSJ archive). [^8]: Lisa Miller, "Titans of Industry Join Forces To Work for Jewish Philanthropy," *The Wall Street Journal,* May 4, 1998, reporting the group's membership and roughly 30,000 dollar annual dues. https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB894240270899870000 [^9]: "How Les Wexner Created the Richest Town in Ohio," *Commercial Observer,* 2019, with NBC4 reporting on Epstein's incorporation role and residence on the estate. https://commercialobserver.com/2019/11/how-les-wexner-created-the-richest-town-in-ohio/ [^10]: "Our Story," *The Wexner Foundation,* on the 1984 founding and the foundation's leadership programs. https://www.wexnerfoundation.org/our-story/ [^11]: Leslie Wexner, "Letter from Les," *The Wexner Foundation,* August 2019. https://www.wexnerfoundation.org/letter-from-les/ [^12]: Vicky Ward, "The Talented Mr. Epstein," *Vanity Fair,* March 2003, as republished by the author, on the 1992 foundation board seat, the fiduciary powers, the 1993 marriage and 1996 move, the dating of the relationship, the Levin meetings, Wexner's and Epstein's statements, the "hatchet man" account, the Limitless litigation, the Riddell guarantee, and the townhouse purchase through a trust. https://vickyward.com/article/the-talented-mr-epstein/ [^13]: "Les Wexner Was Warned About Epstein, And Other Things We Learned From the *Times* Investigation," *Rolling Stone,* 2025. https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/epstein-investigation-times-report-finance-crimes-1235486388/ [^14]: "Victoria's Secret owner says disgraced financier Epstein stole $46M from him," *CBC,* 2019. https://amp.cbc.ca/lite/story/1.5240145 [^15]: "New York Times details how Les Wexner met sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein as he built wealth," *WOSU Public Media,* 2025, summarizing the December 16, 2025 New York Times Magazine investigation. https://www.wosu.org/politics-government/2025-12-16/new-york-times-details-how-les-wexner-met-sex-trafficker-jeffrey-epstein-as-he-built-wealth [^16]: "Billionaire Les Wexner says he was 'duped' by adviser Jeffrey Epstein, 'a world-class con man,'" *13abc / WTVG,* 2026. https://www.13abc.com/2026/02/18/billionaire-les-wexner-says-he-was-duped-by-adviser-jeffrey-epstein-world-class-con-man/ [^17]: "Billionaire Les Wexner is being deposed in the Epstein files probe. Here's what documents show about their relationship," *PBS NewsHour,* 2026. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/billionaire-les-wexner-is-being-deposed-in-the-epstein-files-probe-heres-what-documents-show-about-their-relationship [^18]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. Darren K. Indyke et al., No. ST-20-CV-14 (V.I. Super. Ct.), Second Amended Complaint (filed November 30, 2022), paragraphs 15, 177 to 189; reproduced as ECF No. 1-1 in Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y., filed December 27, 2022). https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011558/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/001-01.pdf [^19]: "FBI memos, bank record, odd emails mention Wexner in new Epstein files," *AOL,* 2026, on the FBI memo language, the discounted home and plane, and the co-conspirator characterization. https://www.aol.com/articles/les-wexner-appears-latest-epstein-171239980.html [^20]: "L Brands CEO Les Wexner has been giving documents to investigators showing alleged Jeffrey Epstein theft," *CNBC,* 2019. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/12/les-wexner-gives-feds-documents-showing-alleged-jeffrey-epstein-theft.html [^21]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), Expert Report of Jorge Amador, ECF No. 238-31 (filed July 25, 2023). https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.591653/gov.uscourts.nysd.591653.238.31.pdf ; Plaintiff's Statement of Material Facts, ECF No. 221 (filed July 24, 2023). https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.591653/gov.uscourts.nysd.591653.221.0.pdf [^22]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00163119, DataSet 9, press printout: Kate Briquelet and William Bredderman, "Jeffrey Epstein's Right-Hand Mystery Men: The Lawyer and the Accountant," *The Daily Beast,* August 30, 2020. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00163119.pdf [^23]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02806221, Court Records (Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904), Declaration in support of motion for alternative service of subpoena upon Leslie Wexner, ECF No. 50-4, February 17, 2023. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank%2C%20N.A.%2C%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/EFTA02806221.pdf