The Billionaire's Blind Spot: How Les Wexner Handed Jeffrey Epstein the Keys to His Empire

Of all the billionaires, politicians, and power brokers in Jeffrey Epstein's orbit, one name stands apart in the financial record: Leslie H. Wexner, founder of L Brands and the man behind Victoria's Secret, Bath & Body Works, and The Limited. Epstein didn't just manage Wexner's money. According to DOJ documents now in the public record, Epstein held power of attorney over Wexner's affairs, lived in a Manhattan mansion Wexner transferred to him, and received tens of millions of dollars through charitable foundations even after his 2008 sex crime conviction [1].

The relationship lasted decades. When Epstein claimed to manage assets for ultra-wealthy clients totaling over $1 billion, Wexner was the only client ever publicly identified [2]. And when federal investigators later scrutinized Epstein's financial empire, they found Wexner's name woven through property deeds, corporate entities, and money trails that raise questions the billionaire has never fully answered.

What follows is a document-based examination of the Wexner-Epstein financial relationship, drawn from FBI emails, DOJ File Transparency Act releases, and public statements. Every claim is sourced. Every document is linked.

In 2010, two years after Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to state prostitution charges in Florida, his charitable fund transferred $46 million to a foundation connected to Les Wexner. The transfer, documented in EFTA00026723, flowed through Epstein's YLK Charitable Fund to the Wexner Foundation, where Abigail Wexner served as president [1].

The document shows this was not an isolated transaction. Epstein had previously provided $13 million to YLK in 2007 and financed Wexner-connected nonprofits with $33 million in Apple stock and $5.4 million in Bear Stearns shares. The total financial entanglement ran into nine figures.

Critically, the Wexner Foundation did not return these funds after Epstein's 2019 federal indictment by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York [1]. The money stayed. The relationship, Wexner later claimed, had ended in 2007. The financial records suggest otherwise.

The 21,000-square-foot mansion at 9 East 71st Street in Manhattan became central to the Epstein mythology. What many don't know is that Les Wexner originally purchased the property. FBI emails released as EFTA00037757 document federal investigators examining the chain of title, specifically questioning discrepancies between a 1989 purchase by Wexner and subsequent transfers involving Epstein [4].

The FBI correspondence shows agents investigating a Deed of Record dated December 23, 2011, signed by Jeffrey Epstein for an entity called "Maple Inc." The same email chain references the original 1989 Wexner purchase and a 2012 sale to "Nine East 71st Street Corporation" with Epstein listed as president. The agents explicitly questioned whether the deed documentation correctly reflected the title transfer history [4].

This was not a routine real estate transaction. This was the FBI trying to trace how one of New York's most valuable private residences passed from a billionaire retail executive to a convicted sex offender through a web of corporate entities.

A 2003 email chain released as EFTA02332529 provides a rare glimpse into how Epstein operated within Wexner's business empire. The email, from an associate named Philip Levine, explicitly describes Jeffrey Epstein as "a major financier and the financial advisor and representative for Leslie Wexner of The Limited" [3].

The email was arranging a business meeting in Paris between Epstein and Antonio Belloni, a luxury goods executive, regarding Sephora. Ghislaine Maxwell was copied on the correspondence. The dates in the email chain are April 4-5, 2003, placing this deep in the period when Epstein was actively cultivating his network of powerful associates while simultaneously, according to later federal indictments, operating a sex trafficking enterprise [3].

The significance is not the meeting itself but the framing. Epstein was not introduced as an independent financier or a personal friend. He was presented as Wexner's official representative, empowered to conduct business on behalf of one of America's largest retail conglomerates.

An FBI intake form dated August 20, 2020, released as EFTA00020493, contains allegations that go beyond financial ties. The form, submitted to the FBI National Threat Operations Center and classified under "Jeffrey Epstein: Child Sex Trafficking," documents a complainant's claim that Epstein "collaborated with business figure Leslie Wexner" [5].

The same document alleges that Epstein's network included "films of men who were recruited" and names Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, and Ghislaine Maxwell in connection with these allegations. It further claims Epstein was "pardoned by a U.S. President" [5].

It is important to note that this is an FBI intake form documenting allegations, not a verified finding or charging document. Intake forms record what complainants report; they do not establish guilt. However, the inclusion of Wexner's name in an FBI child sex trafficking case file underscores the degree to which federal investigators viewed the financial relationship as potentially relevant to the broader investigation.

In August 2019, weeks after Epstein's arrest on federal sex trafficking charges, Les Wexner broke his public silence. In a letter published by the Wexner Foundation, he acknowledged that Epstein had been granted power of attorney and claimed the relationship ended in 2007. He also claimed his family had "discovered that he had misappropriated vast sums of money from me and my family" [7].

The Washington Post reported the same month that Wexner alleged funds were taken, linking the statement to the renewed public scrutiny following Epstein's 2019 case [8]. The Post also reported that L Brands retained outside counsel to review the company's historical ties to Epstein [9].

But the DOJ documents complicate this narrative. The $46 million charitable transfer documented in EFTA00026723 occurred in 2010, three years after Wexner claims the relationship ended. The email chain in EFTA02332529 shows Epstein acting as Wexner's official representative in 2003. And the FBI property investigation in EFTA00037757 traces title discrepancies through 2012.

The DOJ File Transparency Act records do not prove that Les Wexner committed a crime. They do not contain a charging document, an indictment, or an admission of wrongdoing. Federal prosecutors never charged Wexner in connection with Epstein's crimes, and Wexner has consistently maintained that he was deceived by a man he trusted.

But the documents raise questions that deserve answers:

• Why did $46 million flow from Epstein's charitable fund to Wexner's foundation in 2010, three years after Wexner claims the relationship ended [1]?
• Why was Epstein granted power of attorney over a billionaire's affairs, and what specific authorities did that grant include [7]?
• How did the Manhattan mansion transfer from Wexner's ownership to Epstein's control through a series of corporate entities that federal investigators later scrutinized [4]?
• What did Wexner know about Epstein's conduct, and when did he know it [6]?

These are not tabloid questions. They are questions raised by FBI correspondence, DOJ document releases, and the paper trail of one of the most consequential financial relationships in Epstein's network. The documents are now public. They can be searched, read, and verified. The answers remain with Leslie Wexner.