Wexner: I didn’t know of Epstein’s activities
L Brands founder Leslie H. Wexner has issued his first personal statement in the unfolding scandal involving his former business manager, telling employees Monday that he “was never aware of the illegal activity” that Jeffrey Epstein is charged with committing.
“I would never have guessed that a person I employed more than a decade ago could have caused such pain to so many people. My heart goes out to each and every person who has been hurt,” Wexner said in an email to employees obtained by The Dispatch.
“I severed all ties with Mr. Epstein nearly 12 years ago. I would not have continued to work with any individual capable of such egregious, sickening behavior as has been reported about him. As you can imagine, this past week I have searched my soul ... reflected ... and regretted that my path ever crossed his.”
The email represented Wexner’s first comments since Epstein, the 66-yearold New York financier, was indicted on charges of sexually exploiting and abusing dozens of underage girls between 2002 and 2005. Epstein previously pleaded guilty in 2008 in Florida to state charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution, ending a case that began with a 53-page federal indictment that could have resulted in a lengthy prison sentence.
Wexner, the founder of the company that operates Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works, has a long history with Epstein.
Epstein was a Wexner financial adviser for years, and in 1998 was identified as president — along with Wexner — of the New Wexner Albany Co. in Ohio business records. Epstein owned land in the New Albany development, including a home on King George Drive that he owned from 1994 until selling it for $0 to the Wexners in December 2007.
The Dispatch reported Friday that Epstein donated nearly $47 million to a foundation that Wexner’s wife, Abigail, launched in 2007. It was the only donation the fund received.
Wexner and Epstein also shared an interest in a Manhattan mansion bought in 1989 for $13.2 million — at the time a record price for a Manhattan town home — by a corporation controlled by Wexner and Epstein, according to The New York Times. Nine years Epstein in court, Page A10
later, Wexner transferred his interest in the property to Epstein for $20 million, according to the Times. Epstein had lived in the mansion for several years, though Wexner never lived there.
The new federal indictment against Epstein accuses him of abusing girls in that home. Wexner’s email said he was unaware of any illegal activity.
“When Mr. Epstein was my personal money manager, he was involved in many aspects of my financial life. But let me assure you that I was NEVER aware of the illegal activity charged in the indictment,” he wrote.
“We all know that what is being reported about Mr. Epstein will receive significant news coverage. I fully expect that this will remain in the news for some time to come. And we don’t know what twists and turns these events will take ... but I can assure you that I will continue to act in the company’s best interest as this unfolds, and I ask you to do the same. I am proud that our company has long-held core values — those values have never been more important than today, and I ask that we all wave them higher now than ever before.”
Brown, who has worked closely with Portman on trade and pension issues, said he looks forward to talking with Portman about their visits.
He said “a number of Republicans” want to find bipartisan solutions but that Mcconnell “continues to do the bidding of President Trump.”
Trump, Brown said, “doesn’t want any kind of immigration reform or any serious reform that will work other than a border wall. He takes some pride in separating families at the border.”