Bath And Body Works

The Victoria’s Secret billionaire, who is named as a co-conspirator in a 2019 FBI document, recently faced members of congress on Wednesday in Ohio.

The U.S. House Oversight Committee questioned retail mogul Leslie Wexner on February 18 about his relationship with sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. The deposition, which was moved from Washington D.C. to Wexner’s home state of Ohio, comes days after members of Congress, representatives Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Ro Khanna of California, compelled the Justice Department to reveal Wexner’s then-redacted identity in an internal FBI document that had been among the millions released in January. The FBI Document labeled Wexner a co-conspirator to Epstein along with Lesley Groff, Ghislaine Maxwell, Jean-Luc Brunel, Karyna Shuliak and four others whose names remained redacted. The document appears to be tied to the child sex trafficking charges against Epstein and possibly the investigation into his death. In 2019, the Assistant U.S. Attorney told Wexner’s legal counsel that he was “neither a co-conspirator nor a target in any respect,” according to a spokesperson for Wexner, after Wexner provided background information on Epstein (Wexner’s spokesperson says Wexner was never contacted again).

The clearest sign of Wexner’s nearly limitless comfort with Epstein came in July 1991. Wexner signed a three-page legal document, known as a power of attorney, that enabled Epstein to hire people, sign checks, buy and sell properties and borrow money — all on Wexner’s behalf.

Wexner, who himself shunned the limelight, first met Epstein through a mutual friend in the 1980s, apparently a few years after he purchased a then floundering Victoria’s Secret. He brought Epstein on as a financial adviser, and over the course of a decade, Wexner elevated Epstein’s social and professional status; soon Epstein had control of Wexner’s personal finances. “Based on positive reports from several friends, and on my initial dealings with him, I believed I could trust him,” continued Wexner in his letter.

In 1991, Wexner granted Epstein power of attorney and reportedly named him a trustee of his children’s trust. Epstein was also involved in Wexner’s Ohio-based New Albany Company, where he was listed as a co-president with Wexner in a 1998 business registration document but didn’t appear to have any operational role in the firm. A former employee told Forbes in 2024 that Epstein only showed up at the office when Wexner was around. Epstein also apparently owned at least two homes in the area, including one on Wexner’s estate. It was at the latter house in 1996 that a young artist, who Epstein convinced to work at his home that summer, alleged she was sexually assaulted by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. She also stated in a 2019 affidavit, as part of a defamation suit that was later dropped, that Wexner’s security team forbade her from leaving the premises following the assault for 12 hours. A source close to the Wexners said they never heard of the alleged victim until her account of the alleged assault surfaced in the media, and the victim agreed to dismiss the lawsuit in 2021 after Epstein’s estate made her an offer through its victim’s compensation program.

In the summer of 1996, Maria Farmer was working on an art project for Epstein in Wexner’s Ohio mansion. While she was there, Epstein sexually assaulted her, according to an affidavit Farmer filed earlier this year in federal court in Manhattan.

Wexner told lawmakers that it was several years before he turned over management of his vast fortune to Epstein, after the "master manipulator" connived to gain his trust. He gave Epstein power of attorney in 1991, allowing Epstein to make investments and do business deals and to purchase property and help Wexner as he developed New Albany from a small rural city to a thriving upscale Columbus suburb.

In the mid-1990s, two senior executives had discovered that the same man, a close adviser to the company’s chief executive, Leslie H. Wexner, was trying to pitch himself as a recruiter for Victoria’s Secret models. Wexner was alerted, according to the two executives.

Within years of meeting Epstein, Wexner handed him sweeping powers over his finances, philanthropy and private life, according to interviews, court documents and financial records.

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The former investment banker led the board of the company formerly known as L Brands through a rocky period beginning in 2020, during which the retail holding company was reorganized into two separate public companies: Bath & Body Works and Victoria's Secret.

The former investment banker led the board of the company formerly known as L Brands through a rocky period beginning in 2020, during which the retail holding company was reorganized into two separate public companies: Bath & Body Works and Victoria’s Secret.

While staying on as executive chair of Bath & Body Works, in 2022 she jumped in as interim CEO when its leader announced a sudden departure citing health concerns. She also led the search for a permanent CEO, eventually appointing beauty industry veteran Gina Boswell, and in time oversaw a remaking of the Bath & Body Works board, increasing the number of independent directors. And earlier this year, Nash successfully avoided a proxy battle for the company with activist investor Dan Loeb of Third Point.

While staying on as executive chair of Bath & Body Works, in 2022 she jumped in as interim CEO when its leader announced a sudden departure citing health concerns. She also led the search for a permanent CEO, eventually appointing beauty industry veteran Gina Boswell, and in time oversaw a remaking of the Bath & Body Works board, increasing the number of independent directors. And earlier this year, Nash successfully avoided a proxy battle for the company with activist investor Dan Loeb of Third Point.

Following the collapse of a deal to sell a majority stake of the lingerie brand to a private equity firm, Nash and the board chose to make Victoria’s Secret its own company with its own board in 2021. “I was—we were—insistent that we have an all-women board,” other than the newly appointed CEO Martin Waters, she says. “I couldn’t think of any other way to change the narrative around this business other than to say, it has to be governed by women for women… It was the only way we could send a message that said we are not that anymore.”

Following the collapse of a deal to sell a majority stake of the lingerie brand to a private equity firm, Nash and the board chose to make Victoria's Secret its own company with its own board in 2021. "I was—we were—insistent that we have an all-women board," other than the newly appointed CEO Martin Waters, she says. "I couldn't think of any other way to change the narrative around this business other than to say, it has to be governed by women for women… It was the only way we could send a message that said we are not that anymore."

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Several lawsuits from Epstein’s victims alleged that Epstein frequently bragged to young women, often aspiring models, about his close relationship with Wexner. Multiple pilots stated in federal investigations into Epstein that they came to work on Epstein’s airplanes via a connection or direct introduction from Wexner. In 2019, former vice chairman and CFO of Wexner’s The Limited (now L Brands) Robert Morosky told the FBI he “had information regarding the use of ‘Limited’ brand aircrafts used in the 1990s to transport young girls from Mexico to the U.S.” to which a spokesperson for Wexner denied, saying Morosky was terminated from the company in 1987 and “therefore in no position to know anything about the use of Limited planes in the 1990s.”

Despite “offering an accommodation, the company immediately fired her without any preliminary warning and violated its policy on progressive discipline,” per the complaint.

Ultimately, Boden’s team members complained about her decision, and a complaint was filed with human resources. Jocelyn was terminated in May 2025.

The 88-year-old Wexner, who established a retail empire that includes Victoria’s Secret, Abercrombie & Fitch and Bath & Body Works, maintained a lengthy financial relationship with Epstein, who handled his investments for many years.

Epstein became a trusted confidant of Wexner's while Epstein managed the former CEO's fortune, according to Vanity Fair. The magazine reported that Wexner allowed Epstein to take an active role in L Brands, which owns Bath & Body Works and Express in addition to Victoria's Secret. Now, L Brands is selling the majority stake in Victoria's Secret to private equity firm Sycamore Partners and spinning off Bath & Body Works into a standalone company.

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$320,000

Ranks More info 2,202 of 9,200 in 2024

One of the nation's fastest-growing cosmetics chains calls itself "dedicated to preserving the earth." Its brochure, printed on recycled paper, says, "Our packaging is earth friendly." And customers are assured that potions like pineapple mango bubble bath are made from natural ingredients and are not tested on animals.

In May 1997, Alicia Arden, a model in California, was introduced to a man who identified himself as a talent scout for Victoria’s Secret. He invited her to his Santa Monica hotel room to audition for the brand’s catalog. When she arrived, Arden said, the man grabbed her, tried to undress her and said he wanted to ‘‘manhandle’’ her. Arden, then 27, fled in tears.

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