L Brands chief Wexner ‘embarrassed’ by Epstein ties
Billionaire behind Victoria’s Secret seeks to distance himself from disgraced financier
Les Wexner, the head of Victoria’s Secret parent company L Brands, has moved to further distance himself from the disgraced money manager Jeffrey Epstein, saying he was “embarrassed” by his relationship with the deceased accused sex trafficker.
The 82 year-old was for decades a client of Epstein, who committed suicide last month while awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking underage girls.
Mr Wexner used introductory remarks at L Brands’ investor day in Ohio on Tuesday to respond to concerns over his connections to the convicted sex offender, who had also once served as a trustee of The Wexner Foundation philanthropic group.
“Being taken advantage of by someone who was so sick, so cunning, so depraved, is something that I’m embarrassed I was even close to,” he told the audience. “But that is in the past”.
“We are all at some point betrayed by friends,” the retail group’s chairman and chief executive added. “Everyone has to feel enormous regret from the advantage that was taken of so many young women.”
Scrutiny over Mr Wexner’s ties to Epstein, who was found dead in a Manhattan jail cell, has been an unwelcome distraction for L Brands, whose shares have lost about 30 per cent so far this year as it grapples with falling sales at Victoria’s Secret.
The lingerie company, which describes itself as “the sexiest brand in the world”, has fallen out of favour as consumers defect to rivals less reliant on sexualised marketing.
Speaking at the start of a day of presentations by L Brands executives, Mr Wexner said he was feeling “very good” about the business and that it was well prepared for the holiday shopping season.
Mr Wexner had previously disclosed that he had met Epstein in the mid-1980s through friends and believed he could trust him. He went on to give Epstein control of his personal finances and power of attorney.
Mr Wexner wrote in a letter to members of The Wexner Foundation last month that Epstein had “misappropriated vast sums of money” from him and his family. He said it came to light in 2007 when he sought to unwind the relationship.
The board of L Brands, which also owns toiletries retailer Bath & Bodyworks, has hired outside counsel to conduct a review of the connections.
Mr Wexner was one of many high-profile associates of Epstein, who cultivated relationships with elites in business, academia and politics. At the weekend, the head of Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s prestigious Media Lab stepped down over revelations that he had concealed donations from Epstein.
Before his death, US authorities accused Epstein of recruiting girls to give him massages at his mansions in New York and Palm Beach, Florida, where he would sexually abuse them and pay them hundreds of dollars in cash afterwards.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan alleged that Epstein had created “a vast network of underage victims for him to sexually exploit”. The charges came just over a decade after he avoided a lengthy jail sentence on charges of soliciting a prostitute. Victims’ lawyers have vowed to pursue his estate for compensation.