Les Wexner

Billionaire founder of L Brands, the parent company of Victoria's Secret, The Limited, and Bath & Body Works. Epstein's most significant known financial client, a relationship that began around 1986 when insurance executive Robert Meister introduced them. By July 1991, Wexner had granted Epstein sweeping power of attorney over his financial affairs, authorizing him to borrow money, sign tax returns, buy and sell properties, and act on Wexner's behalf in virtually all legal matters.

Epstein founded J. Epstein & Company in 1988 with Wexner as the primary client; the firm was later renamed Financial Trust Company and relocated to the U.S. Virgin Islands for tax advantages.

Together, Financial Trust Co. and Southern Trust Co. processed over $800 million in revenue from 1999 to 2018. In 1998, Epstein and Wexner co-incorporated The New Albany Company in Ohio, a real estate development entity for the planned community of New Albany outside Columbus, where Epstein served as president. The Manhattan townhouse at 9 East 71st Street was purchased by Wexner in 1989 for $13.2 million; Epstein was installed as CEO of the holding corporation and the property was effectively transferred to him for $0 by the mid-1990s, later sold for $51 million after Epstein's death with proceeds going to the Victims' Compensation Program.

By 1995 Epstein also served as a director of both the Wexner Foundation and Wexner Heritage Foundation. Wexner had 9 phone numbers in Epstein's black book and appears on 15 flight log entries. After severing ties around late 2007, Wexner received approximately $100 million back from Epstein in early 2008 as a private settlement, including $46 million transferred to the YLK Charitable Fund.

He publicly stated in August 2019 that Epstein had "misappropriated vast sums of money." An August 2019 FBI Criminal Investigation document, released in the January 2026 DOJ dump, listed Wexner as a possible "co-conspirator" in Epstein's crimes. A second 2019 FBI document designated him a "secondary" co-conspirator while noting "there is limited evidence regarding his involvement." Wexner's name appears more than 1,000 times in the released Epstein files. In February 2026, the House Oversight Committee subpoenaed Wexner, who was deposed for approximately six hours via video from his New Albany, Ohio, home.

In his prepared statement he called Epstein "a world-class con man" and said he "never witnessed nor had any knowledge of Epstein's criminal activity." House Democrats publicly accused Wexner of downplaying the relationship and of lying. The committee released video of the deposition the following day. No criminal charges have been filed against Wexner.