Jeffrey Epstein reportedly lived the life of a billionaire thanks to hand-me-downs from Victoria's Secret head Les Wexner
- Jeffrey Epstein was relatively unknown until he started managing Les Wexner's money.
- Wexner, CEO of Victoria's Secret parent company L Brands, became Epstein's early ticket to the billionaire lifestyle. Epstein flew around in Wexner's private jet and attended his exclusive parties, according to The New York Times.
- Wexner reportedly gave Epstein complete control of his financial affairs and passed on some of his major assets including a Manhattan mansion, a private plane, and a luxury estate in Ohio.
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L Brands CEO Les Wexner was one of Jeffrey Epstein's only known clients and his early ticket to the billionaire lifestyle.
Epstein was relatively unknown until he met Wexner. He started out as a math teacher, spent a brief stint at New York-based investment bank Bear Stearns, and then left to set up his own firm to manage other people's money, Vanity Fair reported in 2011.
While Epstein denied that Wexner "made him," Wexner was one of his first clients. The two men came into contact in the mid-to-late 1980s, when Wexner was already a well-established retail leader and had built up a $3 billion business.
In a lawsuit filed in 2002 by the late artist Nelson Shanks, the two men were described as "close personal friends." Epstein attended Wexner's exclusive birthday parties, flew in and out of Columbus, Ohio, (Wexner's hometown) in the billionaire's private jet, and was given complete control of Wexner's private affairs, according to a report from The New York Times published on Thursday.
One Wall Streeter described it as a "weird relationship" in an interview with New York magazine in 2002.
"It's just not typical for someone of such enormous wealth to all of a sudden give his money to some guy most people have never heard of," he said.
The details of how exactly Epstein made his fortune are somewhat cloudy, but according to The Times, "what is clear is that during the period in which he worked closely with Mr. Wexner, Mr. Epstein became extraordinarily rich."
Two mansions and a private plane
Epstein was arrested earlier this month on suspicion of sex trafficking underage girls. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The Times report digs further into the relationship between these two men.
According to The Times, Epstein was an important part of Wexner's world. Wexner gave Epstein power of attorney, which meant he could hire people, sign checks, buy and sell properties, and borrow money on Wexner's behalf. Wexner also reportedly passed on several of his major assets including his Manhattan mansion, a private plane, and a luxury estate in Ohio.
The New York mansion, which is believed to be the largest private residence in Manhattan and was recently valued at $77 million by prosecutors, was bought by Wexner through one of his trusts for $13.2 million in 1989.
Epstein later moved in after Wexner and his wife, Abigail, moved to Ohio, where L Brands' headquarters are located. A person with knowledge of Wexner's finances told The Times that Epstein paid $20 million for the property, but there are no publicly filed documents recording the transaction.
Around the late 1990s, an Epstein-controlled company reportedly obtained a Boeing 727 plane that was previously owned by Wexner's company. Again, there don't appear to be any public records of the transaction; the same source told The Times that Epstein paid $10 million for it.
In 1992, Epstein reportedly acquired a 23-room mansion and estate in Ohio from Wexner for $3.5 million. The property was part of Wexner's real-estate development in New Albany, where he built an entire town through his development firm The New Albany Co. Epstein also had a hand in this, reportedly investing a few million dollars into the project and becoming a partner in the company.
But six years later, a company linked to Wexner reportedly bought this property back from Epstein for $8 million - a $4.5 million premium on what it was originally sold for, according to The Times. And it was around that time that Epstein, through a separate company, spent $7.95 million buying a private island in the United States Virgin Islands. This would become one of his most luxurious residences.
"While Mr. Epstein served as Mr. Wexner's personal money manager for a period that ended nearly 12 years ago, we do not believe he was ever employed by nor served as an authorized representative of the company," L Brands spokesperson Tammy Roberts Myers said to The Times, adding that the company had recently hired an outside law firm to review its relationship with Epstein.
Representatives for L Brands and Epstein did not immediately return Business Insider's request for further comment.
Earlier this month, Wexner responded to the reports around his relationship with Epstein in a memo to employees. He said he was "never aware of the illegal activity charged in the indictment."
"I would never have guessed that a person I employed more than a decade ago could have caused such pain to so many people," he wrote in the memo, which was viewed by the Wall Street Journal. "I have searched my soul … reflected … and regretted that my path ever crossed his" adding that he "completely severed" all ties with Epstein 12 years ago.