The Enabler

In 1991, Leslie Wexner executed a power of attorney granting Jeffrey Epstein the authority to act on his behalf in all financial matters. The arrangement gave Epstein — a man with no formal financial training, a murky history in financial fraud (Towers Financial/Hoffenberg), and no institutional backing — operational control over a fortune that would eventually exceed $5 billion. The power of attorney is not in dispute; it is a matter of public record, referenced in court filings and confirmed by Wexner's own attorneys. What has never been credibly explained is why. How does a man of Wexner's resources, with access to any financial advisor in the world, give that level of authority to Jeffrey Epstein? No public answer has been offered in more than two decades of scrutiny.

• —The power of attorney document was executed in 1991. Its scope was unusually broad — authorizing Epstein to sign documents, make purchases, manage investments, and act as Wexner's agent across his financial affairs.
• —At the time of the arrangement, Epstein's financial background included involvement with Towers Financial — later found to have been one of the largest Ponzi schemes in US history. Steven Hoffenberg, who went to prison, repeatedly named Epstein as the architect before his death in 2022. Epstein was never charged.
• —Wexner's 2019 public statement claimed Epstein had misappropriated vast sums — he put the figure at $46 million — and characterized himself as a victim. The documentation does not support the naive target framing: every transfer Wexner identifies as misappropriation involved documents Wexner signed, a power of attorney Wexner granted, and assets Wexner owned. There is no indication of forgery.
• —Wexner claimed to have ended the Epstein relationship in the early 2000s. The precise date is disputed.
• —No investigation has resulted in charges against Wexner. He declined to cooperate with Senate Finance Committee inquiries through his attorneys.

In 1989, Leslie Wexner purchased the nine-story townhouse at 9 East 71st Street in Manhattan — the largest private residence in New York City, 28,000 square feet — for $13.2 million. In 1998, he transferred the property to Jeffrey Epstein. The recorded transfer price was $0. At the time of the transfer, independent assessments put the property's value at approximately $20–30 million. This is the property where federal prosecutors and civil plaintiffs documented the core of Epstein's New York sexual abuse of minors — the location where dozens of victims were brought, exploited, and in some cases trafficked. The $0 transfer was not a loan. It was a gift of the largest private residence in New York City to a man who would use it to abuse children.

• —NYC public real estate records (ACRIS) document the 1998 transfer of 9 East 71st Street from Wexner to Epstein. The deed records no consideration (purchase price).
• —The property had nine floors, 28+ rooms, and was assessed by the city at over $20M at the time of transfer. It is widely cited as the largest private residence in Manhattan.
• —The property was subsequently renovated by Epstein at an estimated cost of $10M+, including the installation of a professionally equipped massage room and monitoring infrastructure documented in federal search warrants.
• —Federal prosecutors in the SDNY 2019 indictment identified the East 71st Street property as the primary New York location of Epstein's abuse. Multiple victims gave depositions describing being abused there.
• —Wexner has never explained why the transfer occurred or why it was made at $0.

Multiple victim accounts and Maxwell trial testimony document that Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell recruited young women using the Victoria's Secret connection as a lure. The framing was specific: Epstein or Maxwell would approach a young woman and suggest she had the look for Victoria's Secret, that they could introduce her to Les Wexner, that an audition or casting meeting would be arranged. The meeting was with Epstein. The audition was the pretense for the assault. Wexner's institutional access — his brand, his name, his modeling infrastructure — was operationalized as a trafficking recruitment tool. Wexner has stated he was unaware. The question of what he knew, and when, was not tested under oath for decades — until a 2026 House Oversight subpoena finally compelled a deposition.

• —NYT (July 2020): Jeffrey Epstein Used Victoria's Secret's Prestige to Lure His Victims. The report documented multiple women who were recruited with Victoria's Secret framing.
• —Maxwell trial (2021): testimony from victims described being told they would be introduced to Les Wexner or considered for Victoria's Secret opportunities. These representations were false. The meetings were with Epstein and Maxwell.
• —Ed Razek, L Brands CMO for decades, had documented social contact with Epstein. Razek was separately the subject of harassment allegations from Victoria's Secret models. He resigned in 2019 after sustained public pressure. No charges resulted.
• —Wexner's public position: he was unaware of Epstein's conduct. The Victoria's Secret recruitment pattern appears in victim accounts from the 1990s through approximately 2007.
• —Senate Finance Committee investigators sought documents from Wexner's entities related to the financial flows and corporate overlap with Epstein's operations. Wexner's attorneys declined the requests.

Jeffrey Epstein was listed as a trustee and board member of the Wexner Foundation, a philanthropic organization funding Jewish leadership programs and Israel-related initiatives. The affiliation gave Epstein institutional legitimacy he used to access, cultivate, and ultimately receive donations from some of the most prominent universities in the United States — Harvard, MIT, NYU, and others. Epstein-facilitated donations gave him access to scientists, researchers, and institutional credibility that maintained his social cover. MIT received approximately $7.5M from Epstein or at his direction; Harvard received similar amounts. After Epstein's 2019 arrest, the Wexner Foundation removed all references to him from its materials.

• —The Wexner Foundation listed Epstein as a trustee during the height of the Wexner relationship. After Epstein's 2019 arrest, the Foundation removed all references to him.
• —MIT Media Lab director Joi Ito resigned in 2019 after the New Yorker reported that MIT had received approximately $7.5M in Epstein-facilitated or directed donations, and that Epstein's gifts had been deliberately kept anonymous at institutional request.
• —Harvard received multiple donations totaling approximately $6.5M from Epstein-connected sources. Harvard's internal review found that Epstein had continued access to Harvard faculty after his 2008 sex offender conviction.
• —The pattern: Wexner Foundation board membership gave Epstein philanthropic credibility that opened universities, which gave him access to researchers and social legitimacy that sustained his cover for decades.

Wexner built and ran L Brands for over 50 years. During that time, the documented record includes: a culture of harassment and body shaming at Victoria's Secret under Chief Marketing Officer Ed Razek that Wexner did not terminate for decades; labor practices in the supply chain that were linked to Bangladesh factories with inadequate safety conditions; and an operating environment that combined the highest-grossing lingerie brand in the world with systematic devaluation of the women who modeled and made its products. Razek publicly stated in 2018 that the brand would not cast transgender or plus-size women because they were not part of the fantasy. He resigned in 2019. Wexner stepped down as CEO in 2020.

• —Ed Razek spent approximately 30 years as L Brands CMO. The NYT's 2020 investigation found a culture of harassment and body shaming directed at models by Razek and others.
• —L Brands supply chains ran through Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and other low-wage manufacturing hubs. After the Rana Plaza collapse (2013, 1,134 killed), investigations documented that L Brands suppliers were among those using factories with inadequate safety conditions.
• —Wexner's net worth at the time of his 2020 departure: approximately $5B+. His family retains stakes in Bath & Body Works post-separation.