Eleven survivors of Jeffrey Epstein have sued billionaire Les Wexner, accusing the retail magnate of actively enabling the financier's international sex-trafficking operation by funneling him more than $200 million and handing over control of prime Manhattan real estate.
The lawsuit, filed March 6, 2026, in New York Supreme Court under the state's Gender-Motivated Violence Act, names Wexner personally, his Nine East 71st Street Corporation, and the Wexner Foundation. The 11 plaintiffs — including Malgorzata Lesniewski, Audra Christiansen, Carine Silva de Deus, Renata Navega, and seven others — allege that Wexner 'knew or should have known' about the abuse. They claim his payments to Epstein from 1987 to 2007, the granting of full power of attorney over his finances, and business ties — including modeling opportunities linked to his brands — supplied the financial fuel and physical infrastructure for the operation from the late 1980s into the 2010s.
At the center of the complaint is the notorious Manhattan townhouse at 9 East 71st Street, originally purchased through a Wexner-controlled entity and allegedly used for abuse between 1998 and 2011. The plaintiffs also allege Epstein was given direct access to Victoria's Secret and allowed to use the brand to recruit and abuse women and girls. 'There would be no Epstein without Les Wexner,' the survivors' attorneys assert.
Wexner's representatives have strongly denied the allegations. They assert the payments were legitimate compensation for Epstein's wealth-management services between approximately 1987 and 2007 — not gifts or funding for crimes — and that Wexner had 'no knowledge' of Epstein's illegal activities. Wexner has described himself as duped by a 'world-class con man' and says he severed ties after the misconduct came to light. The mansion, they emphasize, was sold to Epstein in 1998 for $20 million at market value.
The lawsuit landed amid a year of escalating scrutiny. Wexner gave a closed-door deposition to the House Oversight Committee in Ohio on February 18, 2026, calling himself 'naive, foolish and gullible' and admitting a brief visit to Epstein's private island. Unredacted 2019 FBI documents released in 2026 listed Wexner among potential co-conspirators, though he has not been charged, and Justice Department memos detailed a $100 million repayment negotiated after the 2007 discovery of missing funds from his accounts. A transcript from Ghislaine Maxwell described Wexner as Epstein's closest friend.
Wexner, now 88, built his fortune through L Brands, the former parent of Victoria's Secret and Abercrombie & Fitch, and remains a billionaire with an estimated net worth between $9 billion and $11.7 billion. Shareholder derivative suits filed after Epstein's 2019 arrest were settled in 2021–2022 for $90 million, and Wexner stepped down from all L Brands positions by 2021. The new lawsuit — filed as a civil action, where the standard centers on knowledge or reckless disregard rather than direct participation — marks the most direct legal assault yet on the man who was Epstein's most important financial patron.