The Ohio businessman, Leslie Wexner, was previously criticized in 2019 for his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Now, the billionaire founder of L Brands is receiving renewed scrutiny as the Justice Department continues to release the Epstein files.
Wexner, whose name appears in the files over 700 times, denied having any knowledge of Epstein's wrongdoing in a statement released by The Wexner Foundation in 2019.
Wexner has been a household name in Columbus for years. His company, L Brands, owned notable corporations such as Victoria's Secret, PINK and Bath & Body Works before they were split into different entities in 2021, according to The Associated Press.
“He was kind of, during his heyday, like a pretty singular influence when it comes to political donors in Ohio,” Andrew Tobias, a reporter at Signal Ohio, said. “Particularly his interests in Columbus and his real estate holdings.”
Wexner is an alumnus of The Ohio State University, and donated large sums of money to the school throughout the years. Both he, his wife Abigail Wexner and the L Brands Foundation gave, raised or pledged a total of almost $200 million to the university, according to a 2011 press release from OSU.
The university honored his close ties and devotion by naming multiple buildings after him, including the Wexner Medical Center and Les Wexner Football Complex. Students and faculty at OSU have since called for the removal of Les Wexner's name from campus, according to the Columbus Dispatch.
Paul Beck, professor emeritus at OSU, mentioned the precarious situation the university is in. He said it doesn’t want the embarrassment from the connection to Les Wexner but also does not want to give back the money it already spent.
“We see pressure already from the state nurses association, from a lot of the students here on campus at Ohio State, from the student newspaper at Ohio State,” Beck said. “I think that will continue over time as this plays out, and Wexner is going to be in the public eye for quite a while.”
According to Benjamin Johnson, assistant vice president of media and public relations for OSU, the university has received about 295 requests through its naming review in relation to the Wexners since Feb. 18.
“Ohio State has an established procedure for requests to rename a space or entity,” Johnson said in an email. “The University Naming Review Procedure was introduced in 2022 and allows current Ohio State students, faculty and staff, as well as alumni, to submit requests. Each request receives full consideration.”
Les Wexner's ties to Epstein raised concerns beyond his involvement in OSU. For years, he and his wife have been large political donors, giving millions of dollars to politicians and political committees, both in Ohio and nationally, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Ohio politicians, including Democratic U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Carey and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, already donated Les Wexner’s donations to varying charities, according to the Ohio Capital Journal.
Tobias commented on the development of the issue and why politicians are eager to ease concerns regarding ties to Les Wexner and Epstein.
“People I talked to say that that's the thing that changed their view on this, including concerns about the 2026 election and whether Republicans might have a political vulnerability in it,” Tobias said. “So you did see a real change in how those elected officials who have taken money from Wexner for years, including after his association with Epstein, became known and kind of like a matter of public controversy.”
Les Wexner donated to Democrats but significantly more to Republicans. Recently, Ohio Republican Sen. Jon Husted accepted a $3,500 donation from Les Wexner. Husted faced criticism following that donation, which was received on July 3, 2025.
Democrat Sherrod Brown, Husted's opponent in the upcoming Senate race, reacted to the donation in a press release.
"Turns out Jon Husted wasn't just protecting a pedophile by voting against the release of the Epstein files, he was also shielding his billionaire donor," Brown said in the release. "Ohio's Senator should be standing with victims – not Epstein co-conspirators."
Les Wexner was recently deposed by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Feb. 18. During the deposition, Les Wexner vehemently denied any knowledge of Epstein's wrongdoing, and said they weren't friends, just friendly.
“Some of this is really difficult to remember, because Jeffrey was such a con as I look back at it,” Les Wexner said in the deposition. “He was much better at being a crook than I am as an honest person, and I think for the committee to understand this, the con part, I can't imagine a bigger crook account that the world has ever seen.”
