Leslie H. Wexner

• Born: September 8, 1937
• Place of Birth: Dayton, Ohio

Chairman emeritus, L Brands; philanthropist

“I'm a super specialist, I know only the women's apparel business…” Leslie Wexner, helmsman of The Limited and Victoria's Secret, has said. “But I bet I know more about women's apparel than anyone in the country.” A dynamic, visionary businessman who has made specialty retailing his specialty, Wexner is one of the most successful retailers in the United States.

Education and Early Career

“My idea was that the easiest business to go into is the business you're in—and there's room for more than one competitor,” Wexner told Penny Gill, who profiled him for Stores (January 1993), the magazine of the National Retail Federation. In Wexner's case, that business was the rag trade, for he was born into a family of clothing merchants. His father, Harry Wexner, emigrated from Russia to the United States when he was thirteen, and by the time Leslie was born—on September 8, 1937, in Dayton, Ohio—he was working as a manager of a chain of budget clothing stores. Leslie Wexner has credited his father with teaching him the importance of hard work and attention to detail. From his mother, Bella (Cabakoff) Wexner, a department-store buyer, he learned that anything is possible.

In 1951, after a series of moves, the Wexners settled in Columbus, Ohio, where Harry and Bella opened a women's clothing store. They named the store Leslie's after their son. At first, Leslie didn't aspire to a career in retailing. His earliest ambition was to become an architect. As he grew older, at least partly as a result of pressure from his father, he became more interested in running his own business, and after entering Ohio State University, he majored in business administration.

After graduating with honors from Ohio State in 1959, Wexner entered law school, but he dropped out two years later. He began helping his parents run the family business, though at the time, that line of work had little attraction for him. “I actually had in mind that I wanted to learn the real-estate business, and thought I would get a job with a local real-estate broker or developer,” he told Penny Gill. “Even after I had started working full time in my parents' stores and had quit looking for another job, I still didn't intend to make retailing my career—every day was going to be my last day, and I was going to do something else. But opportunity did not knock.” So Wexner began looking for ways to create his own opportunities.

Later Career

At the time, Leslie's was a moderately successful operation that sold all types of women's clothing. Leslie Wexner thought the store would be more profitable if it sold only sportswear because the few stores that had adopted this approach had proved especially popular among women. “Although I didn't understand fashion, I understood that [sportswear] was what all my female friends wore,” he recalled to Penny Gill. After trying, unsuccessfully, to talk his father into stocking just sportswear, Leslie decided to strike out on his own. With a $5,000 loan from his aunt, he opened his own sportswear store in a suburban shopping center in 1963. “Literally the day the store opened I didn't have a name for it,” he told Penny Gill, “and finally I said maybe we should call it ‘The Limited’ because we're limited to only selling sportswear.”

Wexner worked long hours to make his store a success—a habit that has continued throughout his life—often arriving at work at 7:00 a.m. and leaving around midnight. He washed the store windows himself, and he did his bookkeeping on his day off. But Wexner thrived on the hard work; indeed, he didn't view it as something distasteful at all. “If you want to torture me, take my work away,” he told William H. Meyers in an interview for the New York Times Magazine (June 8, 1986).

Before long, it was clear that Wexner's retailing strategy was a winning formula. In its first year, The Limited's sales were $160,000. By the end of the second year, Wexner had opened two more stores. In 1965 Milton Petrie, the founder and chairman of a giant chain of women's clothing stores, stopped by The Limited while visiting his own stores in Columbus. Petrie was so impressed with the operation that he offered to buy 49.5 percent of it. He also offered Wexner a top job in his organization, with a salary of $75,000. Wexner declined. “Those numbers were like the GNP to me, but I still said no,” he told William Meyers. “I wanted to run my own business.”

Although no deal was consummated by the two men, Wexner came away from his meeting with Petrie with many new ideas about how to build a multi-store business. “I had never known anyone who ran a very large business, and at that time, in my wildest dreams I probably couldn't have imagined a business being more than five or ten stores in my lifetime,” Wexner told Penny Gill. “And here I met a person who had about seventy stores. So I was looking at him and saying, ‘What man has done, man can do’—and thinking maybe I could do close to that in my lifetime.” Wexner has credited Petrie with helping him to overcome his “shopkeeper's mentality” and to think like an entrepreneur.

Throughout the 1960s, The Limited continued to grow, with Wexner opening one store after another. Inevitably, there came a time when he began to look for ways to expand his business beyond Ohio, and, once again, a serendipitous meeting with an older, successful businessman provided him with ideas that helped him attain his goals. That man was Alfred A. Taubman, a real-estate developer who specialized in shopping centers and malls. Taubman taught Wexner the importance of attractive store design and of finding the right location for his stores. The two men also began working together: Taubman provided Wexner with prime space in his malls, and Wexner became an important tenant, renting large blocks of space as his empire grew. Wexner once likened his relationship with Taubman, which has endured over the years, to that which exists between “father and son.”

In 1969, with five stores in his chain, Wexner decided to raise money for future expansion by taking the company public. To do so, he enlisted the help of an old school friend, who eventually raised $345,000 by selling company stock at $7.25 a share. Wexner gave stock to his parents, who were working for him by that time, and to his sister. (His father served as chairman of the board until his death, and his mother worked as the secretary of the company.) The money that was raised by the stock sale was enough to launch Wexner on a course of rapid expansion during the 1970s. By 1976 he had opened one hundred stores.

While The Limited was expanding, its customers were growing older. Many of the teenage baby boomers whose penchant for sportswear had inspired the first store were now hard at work climbing corporate ladders. They still wanted comfortable clothes at reasonable prices, but they now also wanted clothing that was of a higher quality and that reflected their new level of sophistication. One of the strategies Wexner came up with to respond to these new consumer demands was to sign on several top designers, such as Krizia, to produce exclusive collections for his company.

Wexner's ability to keep abreast of—and meet—the evolving needs of his customers enabled him to stay one step ahead of the competition. “Leslie senses what consumer lifestyles are and what consumer desires will be years ahead—he just senses it,” Howard Gross, the president of The Limited Stores, told Penny Gill. “He claims he's not a merchant/marketing genius, he just works hard at it. But his merchant skills are just phenomenal.” Equally important, Wexner has a keen understanding of the mind of the consumer. “You have to understand that no one has to buy anything,” he told Caroline Mayer of the Washington Post (March 31, 1985). “On a utility basis, everybody has enough clothing in their closets to last them one hundred years. So the issue in retailing is to create a demand to stimulate people to buy.”

But conceiving designs that will create consumer demand is only a part of running a chain of clothing stores. Producing those designs and bringing them to market as quickly as possible is another, equally important, part of the business. With a view to speeding up production, in 1978, Wexner purchased Mast Industries, a global supplier that works closely with more than one hundred producers all over the world and that owns many factories in Asia. “Mast is The Limited's trump card,” the president of a competing chain of clothing stores told William Meyers. “It's light-years ahead in terms of understanding how to get things done in the Far East.” Mast's employees found the fabrics, placed garment manufacturers under contract to cut the fabric and created the garments, and oversaw the shipping of the completed garments to Ohio—all in a matter of weeks.

Wexner, along with other specialty retailers, drew the ire of American textile manufacturers for contracting with suppliers in Asia. The arrangement, his critics argued, squeezed the American firms out of the market and thus precipitated the loss of American jobs. Wexner responded to the charge by claiming that the large American textile mills had not been able to provide him with merchandise in the quantities he required. He challenged American companies to become more flexible in meeting the needs of specialty stores.

In 1978, in addition to purchasing Mast Industries, Wexner set up a computer network to link all of the stores in the chain and built a huge, automated distribution center in Columbus, Ohio. Once again, his aim was to get his merchandise into his stores as quickly as possible. In a building capable of housing 30 football fields, hundreds of employees sorted, tagged, and packed the millions of garments shipped in from Asia each year. The clothing moved from employee to employee via computerized conveyor racks. It took, on average, only forty-eight hours for a garment to move into the distribution center and out to a store—a process that could take up to several weeks in a less-automated warehouse. The distribution system that Wexner developed and refined also enabled The Limited to ship new designs to each of its stores every few weeks rather than every season, as was the practice among traditional retailers. “In this business you can't be patient,” Wexner told William Meyers. “You've got to get your stuff to the customer first if you want to be successful.”

To finance the purchase of Mast Industries and the opening of new stores, The Limited borrowed heavily. At first, the company managed its debt easily, but in the late 1970s, sales dropped off, and Wexner was forced to temporarily put his expansion plans on hold. Wexner has since admitted that he probably tried to do too much too fast during the 1970s. But by the early 1980s, thanks to a resurgence in sales, The Limited's debt had been substantially reduced, and Wexner was ready to begin a new wave of expansion.

Wexner's business strategy in the 1980s was to launch and buy clothing chains that specialized in women's apparel but that served slightly different markets. By this time, The Limited was catering to women looking for business attire. Thinking that there was a market for livelier, funkier designs, Wexner began his expansion drive by launching Express in 1980. The new chain's stores displayed trendy, affordable styles for the young-at-heart. “We have never really defined Express in terms of chronological age,” Michael A. Weiss, the president of Express, told investors, as quoted in the 1992 annual report. “We've always defined ourselves in terms of attitudinal age.” In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Wexner ventured into several other niche markets with the establishment of The Limited Too, which sold girls' sportswear, Structure, which represented Wexner's first foray into menswear, Cacique, which sold lingerie, and Bath & Body Works, specializing in toiletries.

Wexner began acquiring existing specialty stores in 1982 when he purchased Victoria's Secret, which sold lingerie, and Lane Bryant, which specialized in conservative and—in the opinion of some—unstylish clothing for large and tall women. Under Wexner's direction, both stores took on new images. The revitalized Victoria's Secret stores featured silk and lace lingerie sensuously displayed on padded hangers, and the stores themselves were decorated with Victorian furnishings: changes that helped make the chain synonymous with genteel sexiness. And Lane Bryant quickly became known for selling stylish, contemporary designs. Wexner's other acquisitions during the 1980s were Lerner New York, which sold women's clothing at affordable prices, Henri Bendel, a high-fashion specialty store, Abercrombie & Fitch, which specialized in classic yet hip menswear, and Penhaligon's, which sold fragrances. Two of the new companies drew Wexner into the business of catalog sales: Victoria's Secret and Lane Bryant spawned Victoria's Secret catalog and Brylane catalog, respectively.

During his interview with Penny Gill, Wexner explained why he decided to embark on a campaign of launching and buying companies and talked about the success of the program: “All our acquisitions, except Mast, were failures when we acquired them.… [We] purposely picked businesses that were losers but that we thought we could turn around, because there was more value in them—that is, we could get paid for our work rather than paying somebody else for theirs. I don't think there has ever been a retail business that has as consistent a record of picking niches of retailing and either remerchandising [them] or starting a business to hit niches the way we've done it. I'm very proud of that fact.”

Wexner's other strategies to enhance sales included building superstores that boasted three times more floor space—and thus merchandise—than that which was found in the original Limited outlets. He also grouped different specialty stores together in the same malls so that he could negotiate lower rents and get better locations—the kinds of benefits department stores enjoyed. And in 1987, Wexner decided to decentralize The Limited. He divided it into smaller operating companies, each with its own president. Wexner remained at the helm as chairman. He has said he considers this step a milestone in his career. Decentralization, he told Penny Gill, “allows each business on a cost-effective basis to be self-sufficient, which means it can move faster and with greater agility, and it has more control over its destiny.”

The recessionary 1990s flattened the growth curve somewhat at The Limited, but Wexner's faith in his original merchandising premise wasn't shaken—the notion that specialty retailing was the wave of the future. “I do believe in the fundamental assumption that the fewer things you do, the likelier you are to do them well,” he told Penny Gill. “I think specialty retailing is as valid, and perhaps more valid, than twenty years ago. In a world that's changing faster… it becomes increasingly difficult to be knowledgeable and/or competitive if you have a broad-based business.”

According to his colleagues, Wexner is an intense, energetic, and demanding man who expects loyalty, hard work, and dedication from his employees. His executives have praised him for his ability to nurture talent, and they have described him as a good mentor. “He has incredibly high standards and insists on excellence,” Cheryl Turpin, the president of Lane Bryant, told Penny Gill. “He perceives no limits to what people can do and doesn't give up on his standards or vary in his implementation of them. At the same time, though, he is always straightforward and honest, and very supportive.”

More than 90 percent of The Limited's employees (called “associates” by Wexner) were shareholders; the fact that his people had a stake in the company contributed to its success, Wexner believes. “I thought it would be significant for the people working in the business to have a piece of the action,” he told Penny Gill. “It's not that I saw the future. I just liked the idea of the fairness of the people working in the enterprise being able to invest in it. But looking back, it was a pretty good idea, because it has not only been fair… but also it has been tremendous as an enabling factor in the success of the business. It creates a harmony of interest among the people in the distribution centers, financial people, store managers, salespeople, all across the business. And that people side of the business is something I'm very proud of.”

Wexner is also proud of his philanthropic activities, resolving to use his wealth to make a difference in the world during his lifetime. With that goal in mind, he and his mother established the Wexner Foundation, which supports many educational, cultural, and civic programs. Always interested in fostering leadership, he also donated $2 million to a graduate study program at Harvard University. He was a national vice-chairman and international co-chairman of the United Jewish Appeal, and he supports other Jewish philanthropic organizations.

Wexner has tried to improve the quality of life in Columbus by helping to finance the construction of the Wexner Center for the Visual Arts at Ohio State University and the Wexner Research Center at Children's Hospital and by donating his time and money to a variety of local charities and civic and cultural organizations. He has also lent his support to his alma mater, Ohio State University (OSU), and he served on its board of trustees. He is chair of OSU's Wexner Medical Center Board.

In mid-2019 Wexner's close relationship with New York financier Jeffrey E. Epstein, was scrutinized by the press. Epstein, a convicted sex offender who committed suicide in August 2019 while awaiting trial on further charges of sex trafficking of minors, had served as Wexner's personal financial manager and as a trustee on the Wexner Foundation board. Wexner had granted Epstein power of attorney but denied knowledge of Epstein's illegal activities, which included allegations that he had used his connection with Wexner and Victoria's Secret to sexually assault model and actor Alicia Arden in 1997.

In February 2020, Wexner stepped down as chairman and CEO of L Brands in the wake of the Epstein scandal, but retained the title of chairman emeritus of the corporation. In 2023, in the wake of his involvement in the Epstein scandal, Wexner was rarely seen in public life as he continued to deal with the legalities of his potential involvement in the case.

Leslie Wexner married Abigail S. Koppel, a New York attorney, in 1993. An art enthusiast, Wexner collects contemporary works of art and is a trustee of two art museums, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City and the Columbus Art Museum in Ohio.

Forbes has repeatedly designated Wexner and his family as the wealthiest individuals in the state of Ohio. His estimated net worth in 2024 was $6 billion.

Bibliography

Miller, Joe, and Joshua Franklin. “Judge Allows Les Wexner Subpoena By Mail in Jeffrey Epstein Lawsuit.” Financial Times, Feb. 2023, www.ft.com/content/16f2cf37-711e-4eec-9afb-b16d0ee96cb1. Accessed 21 June 2024.

Ogwude, Haadiza. “Les Wexner Made Forbes 2023 Billionaire List. See How Much He Is Worth.” Columbus Dispatch, 17 Apr. 2023, https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/2023/04/17/les-wexner-made-forbes-2023-billionaire-list-see-how-much-he-is-worth-ohio-new-albany-columbus/70122335007. Accessed 21 June 2024.

Sherman, Gabriel. “Inside Jeffrey Epstein’s Bond With Leslie Wexner, the Victoria’s Secret Billionaire.” Vanity Fair, 8 June 2021, www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/06/inside-jeffrey-epsteins-decades-long-relationship-with-his-biggest-client. Accessed 21 June 2024.

Steel, Emily, et al. “How Jeffrey Epstein Used the Billionaire Behind Victoria’s Secret for Wealth and Women.” The New York Times, 25 July 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/07/25/business/jeffrey-epstein-wexner-victorias-secret.html. Accessed 21 June 2024.

“World's Billionaires List 2024.” Forbes, 2024, www.forbes.com/billionaires/. Accessed 21 June 2024.