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How billionaire Les Wexner’s wealth helped Jeffrey Epstein rise to power
The Billionaire, the Mansion and the Monster: How this retail magnate’s wealth helped Jeffrey Epstein rise to power
Years before his conviction, Jeffrey Epstein found an entry point into global power circles through retail billionaire Les Wexner. Among those who later crossed paths with Epstein was former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, whose work had been funded by the Wexner Foundation.
Washington: In a private room inside his Ohio residence, 88-year-old retail magnate Les Wexner sat across from members of the United States House Oversight Committee. Lawmakers had arrived with files in hand and pointed questions about Jeffrey Epstein’s rise from an obscure money manager to a financier with extraordinary reach. The questioning took place after the US Department of Justice released a set of documents related to the late convicted sex offender.
Released on January 30, 2026, the records are part of a large collection of documents gathered during federal investigations into Epstein. He had pleaded guilty in 2008 to procuring a minor for prostitution and was later charged in 2019 with sex trafficking of minors before dying by suicide in federal custody.
Wexner’s name appears throughout the files in both redacted and unredacted form across financial records and correspondence. In a public statement, he expressed regret for trusting Epstein and described him as a con man. He said that he had been deceived, insisted that he had done nothing illegal and claimed that he had nothing to conceal.
For decades, Epstein cultivated relationships with prominent business executives, politicians and academic leaders. At the centre of that web stood Wexner, founder of L Brands, the retail empire behind Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works and The Limited. His wealth and reputation helped Epstein gain access to powerful people and build his image as a wealthy and influential person around the world.
Epstein first met Wexner in the mid-1980s. At that time, the former had no formal university degree. He had briefly taught mathematics at Manhattan’s elite Dalton School and worked at Bear Stearns before launching his own advisory firm. His meeting with Wexner proved decisive.
By 1991, Wexner had granted Epstein full power of attorney. The legal authority allowed him to sign cheques, hire employees, borrow funds and manage property transactions on Wexner’s behalf. The delegation of such sweeping control was rare in corporate America and indicated deep trust.
Justice Department documents now detail the transfer of Wexner’s Manhattan townhouse at 9 East 71st Street. An agreement involving a $10m promissory note and personal guaranty formalised Epstein’s control of the property. The residence later became his New York headquarters and a symbol of his standing among elites.
During the early 1990s, Epstein assumed formal roles inside Wexner’s corporate and philanthropic network. He served as a trustee of the Wexner Foundation and led Wexner-affiliated property companies. In 1996, he relocated his operations to the US Virgin Islands and styled himself as an offshore financier with access to large pools of capital.
The authority he exercised over wealth and philanthropy gave him institutional legitimacy. He could present himself as a financier trusted by one of America’s most powerful retail entrepreneurs. That perception proved valuable in elite social and political circles.
One line from that period leads directly to former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. In 2003, he met Epstein at a gathering in Washington. Former Israeli President Shimon Peres had introduced Epstein to Barak.
Between 2004 and 2006, the Wexner Foundation paid Barak approximately $2.3m for commissioned research studies on leadership and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The foundation later stated that one completed paper justified the payment.
Barak, who served as Israel’s prime minister from 1999 to 2001 and later as defence minister, had been in contact with Epstein for years. Newly released court filings contain an allegation by Virginia Giuffre claiming that Epstein trafficked her to several powerful men, including Wexner and Barak. The filing offers no supporting evidence for the claim, and neither man has faced criminal charges linked to Epstein’s conduct.
Earlier this year, Barak said in a television interview that he had not understood the full extent of Epstein’s crimes at the time of their association and expressed regret over meeting him.
He has stated that he severed ties with him around 2007 after discovering that large sums of money had been misappropriated from him and his family. Even after that rupture, the status and wealth Epstein accumulated during their association did not disappear.
Emails released by the Justice Department reveal that Epstein maintained connections in political circles long after his split from Wexner. In October 2014, Nili Priel Barak contacted him regarding travel to New York and suggested meeting dates for Ehud Barak. She later forwarded him a draft opinion article and invited his feedback.
Epstein replied with suggested edits to the unpublished piece. The draft showed Barak’s political voice and discussed his meetings with US President Barack Obama as well as arguments about a two-state solution.
In 2015, Epstein invested in Reporty Homeland Security, which was later renamed Carbyne, a technology startup chaired by Barak that focussed on advanced emergency communication systems. The company included former Israeli security officials in senior roles, including a former special forces officer as chief executive and a former Israeli Defence Ministry director-general as a director.
Documents from the period between 2012 and 2014 indicate that Epstein also assisted Barak in exploring business opportunities related to security technology with African leaders. The pattern showed how financial credibility evolved into political access and then extended into commercial partnerships.
Barak later acknowledged responsibility for his decisions and stated that he should have examined Epstein’s background more thoroughly.
Wexner has never been charged with a crime in connection with Epstein and has maintained that he had no knowledge of the financier’s criminal conduct. His name, however, appears repeatedly in the newly released files, highlighting how central their relationship once was.
The story of Epstein’s ascent runs through corporate boardrooms, philanthropic foundations and political offices. At a crucial stage in that ascent stood a billionaire retailer whose trust granted him legitimacy. The documents now emerging provide a clearer view of how power, reputation and access converged during those years and how the effects of that convergence continued long after the original alliance ended.
Source: ZeeNews
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