Les Wexner
American retail businessman; founder of L Brands, former owner of Victoria's Secret
| Les Wexner
| |
|---|---|
| Image | .jpg) Wexner at the Woodrow Wilson Award ceremony, 2008 |
| Born | 8 September 1937 (Forbes) Dayton, Ohio (Forbes) |
| Nationality | American |
| Residence | New Albany, Ohio (Forbes) |
| Occupation | Retail businessman |
| Known for | Founder of The Limited and L Brands; Victoria's Secret; Bath & Body Works |
| Education | Ohio State University (Forbes) |
Leslie H. "Les" Wexner (born 8 September 1937) is an American retail businessman. He founded L Brands, whose businesses included Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works, and was its chief executive for more than five decades.[1][2] On 12 November 2026 the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires list ranked Wexner and his family 391st in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$9.3 billion; Forbes lists the source of wealth as retail.[1][3] In the annual World's Billionaires list published in 2026, Forbes had ranked Wexner and his family 402nd, at US$8.8 billion.[4]
The Limited and L Brands
Forbes says Wexner started in 1963 with a US$5,000 loan from his aunt, opening The Limited, which sold only fast-moving items such as shirts and trousers.[1] In 1982 he bought Victoria's Secret for US$1 million, when it was a small, struggling chain of lingerie shops in San Francisco.[1] Forbes reported in 2019 that L Brands had annual sales of more than US$12 billion across more than 3,000 stores.[1]
Victoria's Secret transaction
On 20 February 2020 L Brands announced that Sycamore Partners would buy a 55% interest in Victoria's Secret Lingerie, Victoria's Secret Beauty and Pink, with L Brands keeping 45%. On completion Wexner was to step down as chairman and chief executive and become chairman emeritus.[2] Forbes says Sycamore said in late April that it wanted to withdraw, and that L Brands sued at first but agreed in May to end the deal.[1] On 4 May 2020 Sycamore confirmed the mutual termination of the agreement, under which it was to have paid about US$525 million. The two sides settled all pending litigation, and neither paid a termination fee.[5]
Jeffrey Epstein
Forbes describes Jeffrey Epstein as Wexner's former confidant and financial manager, and notes that Epstein was accused of sex trafficking. Forbes says Wexner has denied knowing of Epstein's crimes and has said that Epstein stole funds from him.[1]
Philanthropy
Forbes says Wexner has given nearly a quarter of a billion dollars to institutions in Ohio, including the Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State University.[1]
Political activity
Itemised FEC records for the 2022–2026 cycles list contributions under his name with addresses in New Albany or Columbus, Ohio. They are summarised below as filed.[6]
Across the 23 non-memo records retrieved for the 2022–2026 cycles, the filtered total is US$662,450 (a lower bound). The largest recipient committees, as named in the filings, were BUCKEYE LEADERSHIP FUND, INC. (US$250,000), NRSC (US$250,000), KASICH FOR AMERICA, INC. (US$100,000), BEATTY FOR CONGRESS (US$15,500), G-TOWN PAC (US$13,000).[6]
| Cycle | Total (US$, lower bound) | Records | Largest recipient committees (as filed with the FEC) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | $18,550 | 5 | G-TOWN PAC ($13,000); BEATTY FOR CONGRESS ($5,400); ACTBLUE ($150) |
| 2024 | $376,400 | 10 | BUCKEYE LEADERSHIP FUND, INC. ($250,000); KASICH FOR AMERICA, INC. ($100,000); CAREY FOR CONGRESS ($6,600); BEATTY FOR CONGRESS ($6,600) |
| 2026 | $267,500 | 8 | NRSC ($250,000); HUSTED FOR SENATE ($3,500); BEATTY FOR CONGRESS ($3,500); BALDERSON FOR CONGRESS ($3,500) |
Wealth history
Forbes has included this entry in its annual World's Billionaires list in 26 of the editions from 2001 to 2026 checked for this profile, starting with 2001. The table gives the rank and estimated net worth in each annual list, and, where applicable, the rank and estimate in the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans.[4][1]
| Year | World's Billionaires rank | Net worth (US$ bn) | Forbes 400 rank | Forbes 400 net worth (US$ bn) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | – | – | 82 | 1.3 |
| 1997 | – | – | 89 | 1.6 |
| 1998 | – | – | 102 | 1.6 |
| 1999 | – | – | 83 | 2.7 |
| 2001 | 162 | 2.9 | 81 | 2.3 |
| 2002 | 152 | 2.6 | 67 | 2.5 |
| 2003 | 192 | 2.1 | 66 | 2.7 |
| 2004 | 170 | 2.9 | 65 | 2.9 |
| 2005 | 188 | 3.1 | 89 | 2.6 |
| 2006 | 258 | 2.7 | 83 | 3.1 |
| 2007 | 273 | 3.2 | 135 | 2.8 |
| 2008 | 446 | 2.6 | 147 | 2.8 |
| 2009 | 430 | 1.7 | 158 | 2.0 |
| 2010 | 421 | 2.3 | 119 | 2.9 |
| 2011 | 347 | 3.2 | 85 | 3.8 |
| 2012 | 248 | 4.3 | 83 | 4.4 |
| 2013 | 276 | 4.5 | 73 | 5.7 |
| 2014 | 244 | 5.7 | 80 | 6.2 |
| 2015 | 172 | 7.7 | 63 | 7.6 |
| 2016 | 167 | 7.1 | 70 | 6.9 |
| 2017 | 224 | 6.4 | 95 | 5.6 |
| 2018 | 287 | 6.1 | 149 | 4.7 |
| 2019 | 413 | 4.6 | 154 | 4.4 |
| 2020 | 451 | 4.0 | 161 | 4.5 |
| 2021 | 440 | 6.1 | 176 | 5.9 |
| 2022 | 438 | 5.8 | 155 | 6.0 |
| 2023 | 425 | 6.0 | 176 | 6.0 |
| 2024 | 486 | 6.0 | 146 | 7.9 |
| 2025 | 390 | 7.9 | 137 | 9.3 |
| 2026 | 402 | 8.8 | 170 | 9.3 |
International and political links
This section uses the same ten headings for every profile in this series. Only specific, sourced actions are included; company-level and foundation-level actions are labelled as such. Where nothing was found, the entry reads "No documented involvement found in sources checked."
Israel (investments, operations, donations, contracts, statements)
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Zionist or pro-Israel organisations and lobbying groups
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Jewish communal charities
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Gulf states
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
China
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Russia
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
India
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Palestinian or Arab causes
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Home government
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Other international links
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Forbes, Forbes profile record for Les Wexner (Forbes data feed behind forbes.com/profile/les-wexner/) Forbes, live record, read 12 November 2026, accessed 12 November 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 L Brands, L Brands Announces Transformative Transaction With Sycamore Partners to Drive Shareholder Value GlobeNewswire, 20 February 2020, accessed 12 November 2026.
- ↑ Forbes, Forbes Real-Time Billionaires data feed Forbes, live; downloaded 12 November 2026 09:42 UTC, accessed 12 November 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Forbes, Forbes World's Billionaires list data feed, annual editions 2001–2026 (one file per year at this path with the year substituted; all 26 files downloaded and read) Forbes, annual lists; downloaded 20 October 2026, accessed 12 November 2026.
- ↑ Sycamore Partners, Sycamore Partners Confirms Mutual Termination of Transaction Agreement With L Brands PR Newswire, 4 May 2020, accessed 12 November 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 U.S. Federal Election Commission, OpenFEC Schedule A (itemised individual contributions) query, contributor name "WEXNER, LESLIE"; 2026 cycle shown in link, the 2022, 2024 and 2026 cycles were queried together with the same parameters; top 100 records by amount; records filtered by employer/occupation and name, memo entries excluded U.S. Federal Election Commission, data as filed; queried 12 November 2026, accessed 12 November 2026.