🎂 Happy Birthday, Les Wexner: The Billionaire Retail Titan Celebrates Amid Legacy, Luxury, and Lingering Shadows

Cheers to Les Wexner, the visionary behind Limited Brands and the man who transformed Victoria’s Secret into a global empire—today, the retail mogul blows out candles with a staggering $9.3 billion net worth, a fortune built on lace, logos, and an unerring eye for consumer desire. Born in Dayton, Ohio, Wexner took a small women’s clothing store and catapulted it into a retail dynasty, later spinning off Bath & Body Works and reshaping the mall landscape for decades. As he celebrates another year, his family—including his wife Abigail and their four children—joins in the festivities, honoring a patriarch whose business acumen turned a single shop into a billion-dollar behemoth, and whose philanthropic footprint spans from Ohio State University to global health initiatives.

But this birthday arrives amid a complex chapter. Just this week, the former Victoria’s Secret boss sat for a closed-door deposition before a House oversight committee, addressing his past ties to Jeffrey Epstein—a relationship he has called his “greatest regret.” In a prepared statement, Wexner, now 87, insisted he has “done nothing wrong” and “nothing to hide,” while admitting he was “naïve, foolish, and gullible” for trusting Epstein, whom he hired in 1991 and later accused of misappropriating $46 million. Lawmakers, including Democrat Robert Garcia, have pointed to Wexner as “the single person most involved in providing Epstein with financial support,” but Wexner maintains he cut all ties in 2007, long before Epstein’s 2008 guilty plea. As the committee continues its probe—with subpoenas also issued to the Clintons—Wexner’s testimony adds yet another layer to a legacy that, for all its retail glory, remains entangled with one of the most infamous scandals of our time.

Yet today, we raise a glass to the man who redefined American lingerie and built a retail empire from scratch. Wexner’s achievements are undeniable: he pioneered the “mall within a mall” concept, launched Victoria’s Secret’s iconic fashion show, and turned a modest investment into a fortune that places him among the world’s richest. His later years have seen him step back from day-to-day operations, focusing on family and philanthropy—including a $100 million gift to Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center. So here’s to Les Wexner: a titan of industry, a family man, and a figure whose story—like any great saga—is filled with brilliance, shadows, and the resilience to keep moving forward. Happy birthday, Mr. Wexner—may your next year be as bold and successful as the empire you built.