LB LandBridge Company LLC

By Gregory Zuckerman and Khadeeja Safdar 

Jeffrey Epstein enjoyed relationships with celebrities, academics, political figures and investors. Few bonds were more important to the New York financier than the unlikely one he forged with Leslie Wexner, the billionaire retail tycoon from Columbus, Ohio.

Their two-decade relationship, which extended into Mr. Wexner's investments, as well as his retail companies, charities and personal life, became crucial to Mr. Epstein's eventual wealth and prominence.

In turn, Mr. Epstein, 66, provided the 81-year-old Mr. Wexner, founder of retail giant L Brands Inc., with financial guidance and opportunities. Perhaps just as important, say people who know the introverted Mr. Wexner, he was drawn to Mr. Epstein's charisma, confidence and prime-time connections, even as associates worried about the growing relationship between the two men.

"Les is an insecure guy with a big ego...he had a lot of money but craved respect," said Robert Morosky, a former vice chairman of Mr. Wexner's retail company. "They played off each other's needs."

A spokeswoman declined to make Mr. Wexner available for an interview.

Mr. Wexner ended their association more than a decade ago, after Mr. Epstein was accused of inappropriate behavior with girls, according to people close to the matter. Their 2007 separation was accomplished through a legal process involving an intermediary, one of the people said. This week, though, the accusations surrounding Mr. Epstein are drawing fresh attention to his long-term relationship with Mr. Wexner.

Mr. Epstein was indicted in New York on federal sex-trafficking charges stemming from an alleged scheme to exploit underage girls. Federal prosecutors charged him with two counts related to sex trafficking of minors, which together carry a maximum sentence of 45 years in prison if he is convicted.

Attempts to reach an attorney for Mr. Epstein weren't successful.

Mr. Epstein pleaded not guilty in the case. In a motion for bail on Thursday, Mr. Epstein's lawyer emphasized that his client had complied with the requirements of the nonprosecution deal he reached with federal prosecutors in 2007 in which he admitted to two prostitution-related state charges in exchange for prosecutors promising not to charge him federally.

Mr. Epstein met Mr. Wexner in the 1980s through a mutual associate, insurance executive Robert Meister, who was one of Mr. Wexner's closest friends, according to some of the people familiar with the situation.

Earlier, Mr. Epstein had dealt in options markets at Bear Stearns & Co. after a stint as a math teacher at The Dalton School, a private school on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

At the time, Mr. Wexner was looking to reorganize his personal investment portfolio, according to someone close to Mr. Wexner. Mr. Epstein, who had described himself as specializing "in finding missing money," according to one of the people familiar with the situation, appealed to Mr. Wexner.

Mr. Epstein was presented to Mr. Wexner as a "math and finance genius" and came highly recommended by Bear Stearns chief executive Alan Greenberg and Jimmy Cayne, another senior Bear Stearns executive, one of the people said. Mr. Cayne couldn't be reached for comment. Mr. Greenberg died in 2014.

Mr. Epstein told Mr. Wexner that he managed money for prominent clients, though he never revealed any names. "He told Les all of these stories about how much he made for people," one of the people said. Another person added: "He was in a strange way charming and mysterious."

Mr. Epstein became Mr. Wexner's chief personal financial adviser, one of the people said. Soon, he was conducting a series of transactions through Bear Stearns, recalled a former senior member of the firm.

Mr. Epstein connected with Mr. Wexner at a perfect time. The executive's retail empire, which began with a $5,000 loan from his aunt, was riding the boom in shopping malls with brands such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Limited, Express and Lane Bryant.

Victoria's Secret, which originally consisted of six stores and a catalog, was purchased by Mr. Wexner in 1982 for about $1 million. Soon it dominated the U.S. market for women's underwear. Shares of his company soared in the 1990s, making Mr. Wexner a multibillionaire.

Mr. Morosky, the executive who worked for Mr. Wexner, says he was perplexed by his boss's relationship with Mr. Epstein. Mr. Wexner told him that Mr. Epstein could "introduce him to important people," Mr. Morosky recalls.

Mr. Morosky had concerns about Mr. Epstein's becoming involved in Mr. Wexner's business affairs but decided that if Mr. Epstein only helped Mr. Wexner with his personal affairs he wouldn't challenge the relationship. Soon, Mr. Epstein was presenting Mr. Wexner with a variety of investments, including apartment buildings and a development involving a former post office building, says Mr. Morosky, who was offered the opportunity to participate in the investments but declined.

Mr. Epstein became involved in other aspects of Mr. Wexner's life. When real-estate developer Marshall Rose met with Mr. Wexner in the 1980s to discuss a development project near Columbus, Mr. Epstein came along to the meetings "It was very unusual for someone not in the [real-estate] business." Mr. Rose said

By the early 1990s, Mr. Epstein had become a fixture in Columbus and he and Mr. Wexner spoke weekly. Mr. Epstein had a home in New Albany, Ohio, a town north of Columbus, where Mr. Wexner lives, according to someone close to the matter, and often was seen at Mr. Wexner's house parties.

Mr. Epstein "was from the New York fast life," something foreign for Mr. Wexner, says someone close to the executive.

Mr. Epstein never worked for Mr. Wexner's company, but former executives said he began inserting himself into its business. Mr. Epstein tried to offer his input on which women Victoria's Secret should select as models, said former executives. At one point, the company sold a plane to Mr. Epstein for $10 million, said a person familiar with the situation.

Former executives at Mr. Wexner's retail company said the CEO would reference Mr. Epstein during discussions about financial matters, surprising some. "He would say Jeffrey says this and Jeffrey says that," said one former executive.

As they worked together, Mr. Wexner paid Mr. Epstein fees totaling millions of dollars, according to people close to the matter. He received other benefits, as well. In 1998, Mr. Wexner sold his New York townhouse to Mr. Epstein for about $20 million, a person familiar with the situation said. Mr. Epstein had long expressed interest in buying the home, this person said.

Mr. Epstein became involved in Mr. Wexner's family matters. At a party in the 1990s at Mr. Wexner's house, an attendee says Mr. Wexner's wife Abigail, who was pregnant at the time, was discussing her troubles securing a specific nanny -- when she arrived at a solution. "I'll just put Jeffrey on it," the attendee recalled Ms. Wexner saying.

Another time, Mr. Epstein appeared at a New York City restaurant to deliver a gift box to a mutual friend of Mr. Wexner's. "This is from Les, " this person recalled Mr. Epstein saying.

In the early 2000s, Mr. Epstein commissioned an artist to create a portrait featuring Ms. Wexner and the Wexner children. When the Wexners were dissatisfied with the result, Mr. Epstein declined to pay the $325,000 the artist had been promised, according to a 2002 lawsuit filed by the artist. The case was settled in 2003.

Mr. Epstein and Mr. Wexner were connected through their charities, as well. In the 2002 fiscal year, Mr. Wexner gave Mr. Epstein's now-defunct foundation $11.2 million of shares of one of his retailers, the charity's tax filings show. In fiscal 2004, Mr. Wexner's foundation gave Mr. Epstein's foundation another $10 million, according to the foundation's tax returns.

Until about 13 years ago, Mr. Epstein served on the board of several of Mr. Wexner's several charities, tax returns show. In 2001, the Wexner Foundation received $9.6 million from a Virgin-Islands based trust associated with Mr. Wexner and controlled by Mr. Epstein, filings show. Mr. Epstein also was listed as being in charge of the accounting books for the Wexner Foundation and the Wexner Heritage Foundation. The Wexner Heritage Foundation is defunct.

The Wexner Foundation didn't immediately return a request for comment. In a statement posted online Friday, foundation President B. Elka Abrahamson said that the foundation was "sickened by Mr. Epstein's behavior" and cut ties with him more than a decade ago.

In 2008, soon after Mr. Wexner cut off ties, Mr. Epstein's company gave $34.3 million in Apple shares to a foundation associated with Ms. Wexner, filings show. Around the same time, a foundation associated with Mr. Epstein gave her charity about $12 million in Bear Stearns asset-backed securities and other interests. The gifts were part of Mr. Wexner's unwinding of his financial relationship with Mr. Epstein, said a person familiar with the matter.

Mr. Epstein kept a low-profile on Wall Street. He didn't attend investor conferences and his name wasn't discussed widely among investors, executives say.

After his split with Mr. Wexner, Mr. Epstein continued to interact with Wall Street executives, professors, politicians and others, though it isn't known how much investing he did.

--Andrea Fuller and Jim Oberman contributed to this article.

Write to Gregory Zuckerman at gregory.zuckerman@wsj.com and Khadeeja Safdar at khadeeja.safdar@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 12, 2019 20:10 ET (00:10 GMT)

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