The End of a 60 Year Era

Leslie Wexner to Step Down

Ties to the Disgraced Financier Jeffrey Epstein

Leslie Wexner to Step Down as Victoria’s Secret Is Sold

'Mr. Wexner, who built L Brands into a retailing force, had come under scrutiny for his ties to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.'

Leslie H. Wexner, 82, will step down as the chief executive and chairman of L Brands as the company announced Thursday that it would sell a majority stake of its crown jewel, the lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret, to a private equity firm. The sale came after months of scrutiny of Mr. Wexner’s close ties to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and questions about the company’s internal culture.

L Brands said it would sell a 55 percent stake of the lingerie brand to Sycamore Partners, a firm that specializes in retailers, for $525 million. Mr. Wexner will become chairman emeritus of L Brands when the deal is finalized, which is expected this spring. Bath & Body Works, also owned by L Brands, will become a separate public company.

Over the years, he has been described as “one of the great merchant princes of the late 20th century,” a “rag-trade revolutionary” and the “Merlin of the mall.”

Mr. Wexner, 82, employed Mr. Epstein as a personal adviser, the pedophile financier who died by suicide last August awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. For years Wexner, handed him sweeping powers over his finances, philanthropy and private life. Mr. Epstein was empowered to borrow money on behalf of Mr. Wexner and sign Mr. Wexner’s tax returns, as well as hire people and make acquisitions. Over the years, Mr. Epstein obtained a mansion in Manhattan, a luxury estate in Ohio and a private plane — possessions worth roughly $100 million today — that had previously been owned by Mr. Wexner or his companies.

After Mr. Epstein’s arrest last summer, L Brands said it had hired the law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell to conduct “a thorough review” of the matter at the request of its board of directors. Tammy Roberts Myers, a spokeswoman for L Brands, said on Thursday that the company did not have an update on the investigation or its future based on the transaction.

The New York Times reported this month that Victoria’s Secret has had for years an entrenched culture of misogyny, bullying and harassment. The report was based on interviews with more than 30 current and former executives, employees, contractors and models, as well as court filings and other documents. The culture was presided over by Mr. Wexner and Edward Razek, the chief marketing officer of L Brands who was the subject of numerous complaints that went unheeded.

When asked about the controversy that has clouded the last year of Mr. Wexner’s career, Mr. Peterson called it “30 years of brilliance crashing to a halt.”

He added, “What a tragic ending to a really brilliant story.” nytimes.com nypost.com wsj.com
 

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