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The Ledger / Les Wexner

Les Wexner

$5.1B (as of 2025-01-01)RetailForbes #410US

◼ Origin

Founded The Limited in Columbus, Ohio in 1963 and built L Brands into a retail empire encompassing Victoria's Secret, Bath & Body Works, and Henri Bendel; sold off most brands by 2020 amid controversy over ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

◼ Self-Made Verdict — YES

Founded The Limited in 1963 with a $5,000 loan from his aunt; built retail empire from a single Columbus, Ohio store.

◼ Documented marks

01

Granted Jeffrey Epstein near-total power of attorney over his $14B fortune in 1991; Epstein used access to the Wexner social network — Columbus, Ohio wealth, Harvard, retail empire — as social proof to build his predatory network. Wexner later claimed Epstein "misappropriated vast sums."

02

Victoria's Secret casting was organized through Epstein's modeling connections; former models and employees have described systematic harassment and pressure at casting sessions overseen by Epstein associate Jean-Luc Brunel. Wexner divested the brand in 2020.

03

Victoria's Secret supply chain was linked to garment factories with documented wage theft, forced overtime, and substandard conditions; the brand's marketing built billions on idealized female bodies while suppliers paid workers poverty wages.

04

Founded The Limited in 1963 with a $5,000 loan; L Brands at peak operated 4,000+ stores and owned Victoria's Secret, Bath & Body Works, and Henri Bendel.

05

Gave Jeffrey Epstein sweeping power of attorney in 1991, enabling Epstein to act as his personal financial manager and conduct transactions in his name.

06

Transferred his Manhattan townhouse to Epstein in 1989; Epstein used it as his primary New York residence and for trafficking.

07

Severed ties with Epstein only in 2007 after Epstein's first arrest; denied knowledge of Epstein's crimes despite a decade of intimate financial entanglement.

08

Resigned as CEO of L Brands in May 2020 under shareholder and public pressure following renewed Epstein scrutiny.

No inheritance, or primary accounts documented for this billionaire yet.

◼ List of charges

01

Material Enabling of a Documented Predator

1025 years

Statute: Provision of financial, legal, or institutional infrastructure — including power of attorney, real estate transfer, employment access, or social access — to a person engaged in documented serious criminal conduct, where the enabler had reasonable knowledge of the conduct.

Basis: Epstein connection

No jurors have rendered guilty yet

02

Financial Misconduct

515 years

Statute: Documented financial impropriety — including misuse of fiduciary relationships, commingling of funds, unauthorized transfers, or exploitation of financial access — causing documented harm to investors, beneficiaries, or the public.

Basis: Les Wexner financial misconduct

No jurors have rendered guilty yet

03

Systematic Labor Violations

515 years

Statute: Pattern of documented violations of labor law — including wage theft, workplace safety infractions, illegal worker misclassification, forced labor, or systematic suppression of worker rights — at a scale affecting thousands of workers across a documented enterprise.

Basis: Labor violations at Victoria's Secret

No jurors have rendered guilty yet

04

Political Obstruction

1020 years

Statute: Use of financial, legal, or institutional leverage to obstruct legislative processes, regulatory rulemaking, or law enforcement — including lobbying to kill beneficial legislation, pressuring officials to suppress accountability, or deploying wealth to delay or derail legal proceedings.

Basis: Political obstruction

No jurors have rendered guilty yet

Total sentence

3075 years

That is

0.41.0 life sentences

(using 78 years as one life)

At $1 million per day

Les Wexner's fortune would last 14 years

0.2 lifetimes of luxury — before running out.

These are moral charges, not legal ones. The actual legal system has not — and will not — bring them.