Les Wexner
Leslie Herbert Wexner[3] (born September 8, 1937) is an American billionaire businessman, the co-founder and chairman emeritus of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (formerly Limited Brands).[4]
Les Wexner
Les Wexner
Businessman
Chairman
Republican (before 2018)[1]
Independent (since 2018)[2]
4
Wexner retained Jeffrey Epstein as his financial manager from 1987 to 2007 and was initially the "main client" of Epstein’s money-management firm, according to Bloomberg. Epstein ran his business out of a house Wexner owned and sometimes resided in while Advisor of Victoria's Secret.[5][6]
Early life and education[edit]
Leslie Wexner was born in Dayton, Ohio,[7] on September 8, 1937, to parents Bella née Cabakoff (1908–2001) and Harry Louis Wexner (1899–1975).[8] Both his parents were of Russian-Jewish origin.[4] His father was born in Russia and his mother was born in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.[4] She moved to Columbus, Ohio as a toddler.[8] Wexner has a younger sister, Susan.[9]
Wexner attended Bexley High School and Ohio State University.[9] He initially expressed an interest in architecture[10] but graduated in 1959[11] with a major in business administration.[7] While a student at Ohio State University, he joined the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity. Wexner served in the Air National Guard.[4] He briefly attended the Moritz College of Law.[9]
In the media[edit]
In 2022, Wexner was mentioned in the pop song "Victoria's Secret",[28] for profiting off women and contributing to their toxic body ideals.[29][30] When Jax sings that "I know Victoria’s secret, and girl, you wouldn’t believe. She’s an old man who lives in Ohio making money off of girls like me.” she refers to Wexner.
Wexner's relationship with Epstein was one of the subjects of the 2022 Hulu documentary Victoria's Secret: Angels and Demons.[31]
Personal life[edit]
On January 23, 1993, Wexner, then 55 years of age, married Abigail S. Koppel, 31, an attorney.[42] The couple have four children.[43]
Formerly of the Bexley area, Wexner now lives in New Albany, a community northeast of near Columbus, Ohio. He owns a 30-room, $47 million, Georgian-inspired estate, on nearly 336 acres (1.36 km2), that was built in 1990. The estate was, for 20 years, the location of the Annual New Albany Classic Invitational Grand Prix & Family Day (an equestrian show) benefiting The Center for Family Safety and Healing. In February 2018, Abigail Wexner announced the end of the event, citing the growing number of equestrian competitions.[44]
Wexner has owned the mid-18th century Foxcote House in Warwickshire, England, since 1997.[45]
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.[46][47]
Wexner was inducted as an honorary member of the 104th Sphinx Senior Class at Ohio State University on May 7, 2010.[48]
On February 10, 2012, the Ohio State University board of trustees voted to rename the Ohio State University Medical Center in honor of Wexner. Now the medical center is known as Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State University.[11]
Political activities[edit]
Wexner hosted a fundraiser in 2012 for Mitt Romney[49] and donated $250,000 to Restore Our Future, Romney's super PAC.[50] In 2015, Wexner donated $500,000 to the Right to Rise USA super Pac that supported the 2016 presidential campaign of Jeb Bush.[51]
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 Barack Obama gave a speech on the same Columbus Partnership panel that Wexner addressed.[52][53]