How Les built the fortune
Les Wexner's fortune grew out of a single women's clothing store in Columbus, Ohio. In 1963 he borrowed a few thousand dollars from an aunt and opened The Limited, so named because it sold a limited range of moderately priced sportswear rather than everything a department store would carry. The narrow focus allowed faster turnover and higher margins, and the concept spread quickly through America's new shopping malls.
The Limited went public in 1969, and Wexner used its growth to buy and build a portfolio of specialty chains. His most consequential purchase came in 1982, when he acquired Victoria's Secret, then a handful of stores and a catalogue in California, and turned it into a national lingerie brand. In 1990 he started Bath & Body Works, which became one of the most profitable personal care retailers in the country. Over several decades the company, renamed Limited Brands and later L Brands, became one of the largest specialty retailers in the United States.
Wexner served as chief executive for more than half a century, an unusually long tenure for the head of a large public company, and his ownership stake was the source of most of his wealth.
Wexner's approach combined tight control of merchandise with careful attention to store design and branding. He favoured vertical integration, in which the company designed products, controlled sourcing and sold through its own stores, and he invested in distribution centres around Columbus that allowed fast replenishment. Over time the central Ohio region became a hub for retail logistics and design, in large part because of the businesses Wexner built there.
Companies and holdings
During his years in charge, Wexner's group owned or created many well known retail names, including:
- The Limited and Express, women's apparel chains
- Lane Bryant, acquired in 1982
- Abercrombie and Fitch, bought in 1988 and spun off in the 1990s
- Victoria's Secret, acquired in 1982 and separated as its own public company in 2021
- Bath & Body Works, founded in 1990
After the 2021 split, L Brands took the name Bath & Body Works, Inc. Wexner had stepped down as chief executive and chairman in 2020 and later left the boards. His remaining wealth is held in shares of the successor companies, real estate and private investments.
The breakup of L Brands reflected changes in retail. Mall traffic had declined for years, Victoria's Secret faced criticism over its marketing and falling sales, and investors wanted the faster-growing Bath & Body Works business valued on its own. Separating the two brands closed the chapter of the group Wexner had assembled over almost six decades.
Early life and career
Wexner was born in 1937 in Dayton, Ohio, to Russian Jewish immigrant parents who later ran a small clothing store in Columbus. He studied business administration at Ohio State University, graduating in 1959, and briefly attended law school before leaving to help in the family shop.
Working there, he noticed that a small group of items generated most of the profit while much of the inventory sat unsold. That observation became the basis of The Limited. He opened his first store in the Kingsgate Shopping Center in Columbus, and the success of the format persuaded him to expand on his own rather than return to the family business.
Philanthropy and public life
Wexner and his wife Abigail have been major donors in Ohio and in the Jewish community. The Wexner Foundation, created in 1983, runs leadership programs for Jewish professionals and volunteers in North America and graduate fellowships for Israeli public officials at Harvard. Ohio State University's medical centre and its Wexner Center for the Arts carry the family name after large gifts. The couple also played a central role in developing the planned community of New Albany outside Columbus, where they live.
His public reputation was affected by his long financial relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, who managed some of Wexner's affairs in the 1980s and 1990s. Wexner has said he cut ties with Epstein around 2007 and has stated that Epstein misappropriated large sums from him. The association drew renewed scrutiny after Epstein's 2019 arrest and prompted shareholder and media questions about governance at L Brands.