Les Wexner Claims Naivety in Epstein Deposition
The billionaire retail tycoon continues to deny any knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein's sex crimes, but not everyone is buying it.
Democratic congress members cast their doubts on billionaire retail magnate and arts patron Les Wexner's testimony regarding Jeffrey Epstein after his closed-door deposition to the House Oversight Committee (HOC) yesterday, February 18. Wexner, who had once granted Jeffrey Epstein power of attorney over his massive fortune, emphasized that he “never witnessed nor had any knowledge of Epstein’s criminal activity” in a three-page statement ahead of his questioning.
Wexner was subpoenaed by the committee in January following the release of an unredacted internal document from 2019 in which the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had named him as a co-conspirator of Epstein's child sex trafficking ring.
“I was never a participant nor co-conspirator in any of Epstein’s illegal activities,” Wexner's statement continued, reiterating the stance he has taken since 2019 following Epstein's arrest. Wexner has never been charged, though alleged victims of Epstein have accused him of direct participation and peripheral involvement in Epstein's sex crimes.
“We should be very clear that there would be no Epstein Island, there'd be no Epstein plane, there'd be no money to traffic women and girls ... Mr. Epstein would not be the wealthy man he was without the support of Les Wexner,” said the HOC's Ranking Member Robert Garcia (D-California) in a press conference after yesterday's questioning, asserting that Wexner was financially responsible for Epstein's crimes.
“It may be a question as to whether Les Wexner was involved in the crimes directly, but there is no question in my mind, given the evidence so far, that Les Wexner knew about this and failed to stop it and gave Epstein license and the ability to commit these crimes,” Congress member Stephen Lynch (D-Massachusetts) said at the conference.
In an email to Hyperallergic, Wexner's representative stated that while the billionaire had paid Epstein for his work as a financial advisor, “he never witnessed and had no knowledge of, and did not enable, Epstein’s criminal activity.”
“Mr. Wexner was only one of Epstein’s clients and, based upon documents released by the Department of Justice, was clearly not Epstein’s sole source of funds,” the representative added.
Now 88, the since-retired founder of L Brands (former parent company of Victoria's Secret, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Bath & Body Works, Inc.) stepped down as the CEO in 2020 — and from the board entirely in 2021 — though he maintains his post at the Wexner Foundation. The Ohio State University's Wexner Center for the Arts, of which he was a major funder and current board chair, told Hyperallergic in 2024 that it will retain Wexner's name and relationship with the family amid calls to drop both after allegations against Wexner had been publicized through unsealed court documents.
In the documents, which pertained to the late alleged abuse survivor Virginia Roberts Giuffre's 2016 settlement with Epstein's trusted assistant Ghislaine Maxwell, Giuffre said that Wexner had “participated in sex with minors,” and that Maxwell had trafficked her to Wexner for sex “more than three” but fewer than 10 times.
However, Giuffre's attorney Brad Edwards said that Wexner's statements about being unaware of Epstein's sex trafficking ring “are very highly likely to be true” in a 2019 news conference, thus contradicting his own client.
Artist Maria Farmer, whom Epstein invited in 1996 to spend the summer at a guest home he owned on the Wexner family's sprawling estate in New Albany, Ohio, also alleged that she had been sexually assaulted by Epstein and Maxwell on the premises. In a 2019 interview, she claimed that one of Wexner's security guards prevented her from leaving the property after the assault, and that throughout her stay, she had to report her comings and goings to Wexner's wife Abigail by phone call per Epstein's instruction.
In a statement about the allegations, Les and Abigail Wexner said they neither met Farmer, nor had any knowledge of Farmer or her stay until the 2019 interview. They said that the artist had never spoken with Abigail, despite what Epstein may have told her.
A 2022 Hulu docu-series about Victoria's Secret also alleged that Wexner, who became the CEO when he acquired the lingerie company, had been informed that Epstein was pretending to be a talent recruiter for the company in an effort to lure in models. Wexner's attorney told the producers that the retail tycoon had confronted Epstein about the behavior after a report from a company executive, but Epstein denied the accusation. Italian model and actress Alicia Arden accused Epstein of sexually assaulting her in Santa Monica, California, while posing as a scout for the company in 1997, and said she filed a police report regarding the matter.
Wexner maintains that his family's relationship with Epstein dissolved in 2007, after Abigail found out that Epstein had either stolen or misappropriated hundreds of millions of dollars from their finances. In his statement, Wexner explained that he had met Epstein in the 1980s, eventually hired him to manage his personal finances, and then entrusted Epstein with the power of attorney role over his wealth. Epstein had indicated he was in some legal trouble in 2007 and suggested that Abigail take over the family's finances, after which Abigail uncovered the losses.
“Once I learned of his abusive conduct and theft from my family, I never spoke with Epstein again,” Wexner wrote, noting that he revoked Epstein's power of attorney status months before he was convicted in 2008 for soliciting a minor for prostitution. In a private settlement, Epstein repaid the Wexners $100 million — it has since been confirmed that a $47 million donation Epstein made to Wexner's YLK Charitable Fund Foundation was part of the reimbursement.
“What is so clear only now is that Epstein lived a double life,” his statement continued. “The other life he led, that we now know was full of unthinkable crimes, he most carefully and fully hid from me. He knew that I never would have tolerated his horrible behavior ... I am the father of two girls, now women, and the thought of what he did makes me sick.”
He also noted that he and his family had briefly visited Epstein's private island, Little St. James, only once, and that he had never been a passenger on Epstein's jet. Wexner's representative claimed that Epstein never used any of Wexner's own property or vehicles to facilitate his crimes. The billionaire also denied handing over the opulent and now-infamous Manhattan townhouse to Epstein for free, stating that Epstein had “purchased it from me for what I was told was the appraised value.”
Epstein reportedly moved into the townhouse in 1996 and told Vanity Fair he owned it in a 2003 profile. A sale document provided by Wexner's representative shows that the billionaire had sold the house to a corporation that Epstein partially owned in 1998 for $20 million. In 2011, said corporation transferred the house to another company Epstein controlled in the Virgin Islands for $0. Court records include multiple allegations from women who state that Epstein had lured them to the Upper East Side property as underage girls for nude massages that escalated into forced sexual contact, and a federal sweep of the premises following his 2019 arrest yielded a “vast trove of lewd photographs of young-looking women or girls.”
While Wexner said he hasn't been in contact with Epstein since 2007, the latest batch of files includes an unfinished, undated letter by Epstein addressed to “Les” that was likely written between 2014 and 2015. Epstein claims that he and Wexner “had 'gang stuff' for over 15 years” that he did not disclose to Abigail as she “asked many questions,” and “made many unfair, aggressive and false accusations.”
“I have never once, not once, done anything but protect your interests,” Epstein wrote. “I owe a great debt to you, as frankly you owe to me.” A spokesperson for Wexner told the New York Times that while the letter was never sent, it “appears to fit a pattern of untrue, outlandish, and delusional statements made by Epstein in desperate attempts to perpetuate his lies and justify his misconduct.”
“This was obviously a very very close relationship and so far what we have seen is a denial of that relationship,” said Congress member Yassamin Ansari (D-Arizona), during the post-deposition press conference.
