Wexner soon abandoned the money manager he had been working with. In 1991, he gave Epstein power of attorney. He explained in a letter to his philanthropic foundation in August -- days before Epstein hanged himself in his Manhattan jail cell -- that the financier previously had “wide latitude to act on my behalf with respect to my personal finances.”
‘Good Decisions’
One of Epstein’s roles was to manage Wexner’s soaring stock holdings, but his duties also included suburban planning and yacht design. He represented Wexner when the billionaire sold a New York townhouse to the German government in 1991, according to Jessica Rohm, a retired real estate agent. Epstein was the beneficiary of hand-me-downs including a Boeing 727 and another Manhattan mansion on East 71st Street.
“He votes the shares. I decide when to sell it,” Epstein said in a 2003 interview at his private Caribbean island. “If you take a look back you’ll see I’ve made very good decisions.”
Wexner has a $7 billion fortune, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Less than a fifth of that is tied up in L Brands, thanks in part to the share sales Epstein oversaw. The mandate proved enormously profitable for him. Epstein’s Financial Trust Co. collected $208 million in fee income from 2003 through 2006, according to accounts first obtained by the New York Times.
The filings indicate that Wexner was his central -- perhaps only -- backer in those years. When the two cut ties in 2007, fee income at Financial Trust fell to $4 million that year from $66 million in 2006.
Twelve years later, in July 2019, those ties sparked a crisis for Wexner after Epstein was arrested and charged with sex trafficking. After weeks of silence, Wexner disavowed the convicted pedophile, who had served time on other charges in Florida a decade earlier, noting his former money manager had “misappropriated vast sums of money from me and my family.” Days later, Epstein was dead.
What’s next for Wexner is unclear. A major philanthropist, his money has flowed to the arts, military veterans, Jewish organizations and more. He donated $100 million to help expand the medical center on the campus of Ohio State University. Members of the school’s football team –- the pride of Columbus –- work out in an athletic complex that bears the Wexner name.
He will be chairman emeritus of what remains of L Brands.
“Limited Brands is truly living up to its name at this point -- it really is limited,” D.A. Davidson’s Morris said. “Maybe they should change it to the singular -- Limited Brand.”
--With assistance from Jordyn Holman.