L Brands profits take a hit in 2018 The Victoria’s Secret parent company reported dips in fourth-quarter and full-year 2018 earnings and announced a disappointing outlook for 2019. Part of this decline was due to the fact that L Brands’ fourth-quarter earnings in 2018 were negatively impacted by $99.24 million in expenses related to the company’s sale of La Senza. (Fashion Network)
Shares in parent company of Victoria’s Secret plunge by 5 percent after its CEO's ties to his 'trusted confidant' disgraced Jeffrey Epstein resurface L Brands shares slid Tuesday after its CEO's ties with Jeffrey Epstein resurfaced The financier charged with sex trafficking once managed Les Wexner's fortune Wexner reportedly allowed Epstein to take an active role in his L Brands empire, which includes Victoria's Secret, Bath & Body Works, Pink and Express Wexner also reportedly gifted the alleged pedophile a $13m Manhattan mansion The underwear mogul – worth $6.7bn – has not been accused of any wrongdoing He claimed he cut ties with Epstein over 'a decade ago' as suspicions swirled But news of their special relationship has weighed on Wexner's conglomerate, already burdened by weak sales and calls to evolve in the #MeToo era Shares of Victoria's Secret parent company L Brands slid as much as 5 percent on Tuesday as it emerged that Jeffrey Epstein was a 'trusted confidant' of its CEO. Epstein – the shady financier charged with sex trafficking – managed the fortune of billionaire Leslie Wexner, who has not himself been accused of any wrongdoing. But the retail magnate's ties with the alleged pedophile go back a long way – Epstein started managing Wexner's money in the 1980s, according to a 2003 Vanity Fair profile. The underwear mogul – estimated to be worth $6.7 billion – is Epstein's only confirmed client. Scroll down for video L Brands CEO Les Wexner (pictured in 2016 with a Victoria's Secret model) is sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's only confirmed client. The retail magnate's links to Epstein are weighing on his lingerie empire's image, already tarnished by calls to evolve in the #MeToo era Shares of Victoria's Secret parent company L Brands Inc slid on Tuesday as it emerged that Epstein was a 'trusted confidant' of its CEO Wexner The Epstein controversy is just the latest for L Brands - its Victoria's Secret brand is already burdened by weak sales and disenchanted socially-conscious consumers The magazine reported that Wexner allowed Epstein to take an active role in his L Brands empire, which includes Bath & Body Works, Pink, Express and Victoria's Secret. In 1989, Wexner used a trust to buy an Upper East Side mansion that is believed to be the largest private residence in Manhattan for $13.2 million. Epstein moved in after Wexner and his wife moved to Ohio in 1996. Wexner's trust transferred ownership of the house to Epstein in 2011 for $0, Bloomberg reported.
Victoria’s Secret nearing sale to private equity firm By Noah Manskar February 10, 2020 | 7:56am | Updated Enlarge Image The secret’s out. The parent company of Victoria’s Secret is reportedly close to selling the iconic-but-floundering lingerie brand to a private equity firm. New York-based Sycamore Partners is in talks to buy Victoria’s Secret from the retail conglomerate L Brands in a deal that could be announced as soon as this week, CNBC reported late Sunday. It’s not clear how much Sycamore would pay for Victoria’s Secret, but L Brands shares shot up 6 percent to $25.00 amid news of the deal in premarket trading as of 7:22 a.m. Monday. Sycamore declined to comment, and L Brands did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday morning. Ohio-based L Brands has reportedly been looking to offload Victoria’s Secret amid declining sales and allegations of inappropriate behavior toward its models. L Brands CEO Leslie Wexner has also faced scrutiny over his past connections to pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, who died by suicide in August. The Wall Street Journal first reported last month that L Brands and Sycamore were negotiating a possible full or partial sale of Victoria’s Secret and that Wexner, an 82-year-old billionaire, was in discussions to step down as chief executive of his “retail empire.” Sycamore has snapped up other struggling retailers such as Talbots, Limited and Nine West. Victoria’s Secret saw sales drop 12 percent in the last two months of 2019 amid a slowdown in traffic at its roughly 1,100 stores across the US and Canada. The brand also canceled its annual fashion show last year, as L Brands sought to rejig its marketing, which has changed little over the years. More than 100 models slammed Victoria’s Secret last week following a New York Times exposé detailing a “culture of misogyny” within the brand. The report included allegations that former L Brands executive Ed Razek asked models to sit on his lap, tried to kiss them and even touched one’s crotch. Executives allegedly flagged Razek’s behavior to Wexner. An L Brands spokeswoman told the Times that the company is “fully committed to continuous improvement and complete accountability,” but Razek himself denied the allegations to the paper. Those accusations followed questions about Wexner’s relationship with Epstein, who killed himself at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan as he faced sex-trafficking charges. Wexner has said he’s “embarrassed” about his connections to Epstein and has accused him of misappropriating more than $46 million while serving as Wexner’s money manager.