Sigma client profiles
L Brands shareholders filed a complaint in the Court of Chancery of Delaware on January 14, 2021, stating that Wexner, among others, created an "entrenched culture of misogyny, bullying and harassment" and was aware of abuses being committed by Jeffrey Epstein, which breached his fiduciary duty to the company, causing devaluation of the brand. He was on Harvard Business Review’s Top 100 Best Performing CEOs, ranked #11 in 2015, and #34 in 2016. In February 2020, Wexner was described as the longest serving CEO of a Fortune 500 company with his 57 years at the helm of L Brands. In 2012, CNN Money described Wexner as the longest serving CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Previous brands that were spun off include Lane Bryant, Abercrombie & Fitch, Lerner New York, The Limited Too (now Tween Brands, Inc.), Structure 9, Aura Science, The Limited (which closed its brick-and-mortar stores while retaining its online presence), and Express (which closed its Canadian stores and hundreds of its U.S.-based stores). Over the years, Wexner built a retailing and marketing conglomerate that included Victoria's Secret, Pink (Victoria's Secret for teens), Bath & Body Works, Henri Bendel, The White Barn Candle Company, and La Senza. In 1993, he hired Len Schlesinger, a Harvard Business School professor, whom he later appointed a company director, to advise him. By 2015, sales were in decline and 2018 proved to be the final year for the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. After Wexner assumed ownership, Victoria's Secret became widely known for marketing its items with the use of super models known as "angels" which were featured in an annual fashion show, overseen by Ed Razek. Wexner bought the company for $1 million and by the 1990s it was worth an estimated $1 billion. Wexner described Raymond as "very guarded" stating, "When I met him, it was as if he met the devil." Six months later, when Raymond was facing bankruptcy, he contacted Wexner and offered to sell Victoria's Secret. Started as an MBA project by Stanford graduate Roy Raymond, Victoria's Secret attracted Wexner's interest due to the unique, high quality merchandise and Victorian-era decor of the shop which featured red-velvet sofas. In 1982, Wexner acquired the lingerie business Victoria's Secret. In the 1980s, Wexner doubled his retail holdings by purchasing a number of companies and became known as a major retail owner at malls in America. He took on significant debt in 1978 to purchase the importer and manufacturer Mast Industries, which later was regarded to have provided him with essential business advantages over competitors. Wexner expanded the Limited considerably in the 1970s, having opened the 100th store in 1976. Alfred Taubman reportedly served as a mentor for Wexner, starting in the mid 1960s, and the two partnered on many deals involving Taubman's shopping malls over the years. He took Limited Brands public in 1969, listed as LTD on the NYSE. He opened the second Limited store in August 1964. One year later, Wexner's parents closed their store and joined their son in running The Limited. Wexner opened the first store on August 10, 1963, in the Kingsdale Shopping Center in Upper Arlington, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus. The store took its name due to its limited focus on moderately priced merchandise such as skirts, sweaters and shirts that turned over quickly and generated greater revenues. In 1963, Wexner was lent $5,000 from his aunt Ida which was then matched by a bank in order to start The Limited. When he told his father this, his father was uninterested in changing his inventory. jackets) had a higher margin per item, they sold less frequently than blouses and were therefore less profitable as a line. He found that although higher-priced clothing (e.g.
While they were away on vacation he analyzed the profit and loss margins on the women's clothing they sold. After he decided to leave law school, his parents asked him to take care of the store when they went on their first vacation in ten years.
Wexner began his retail career working in his parents' clothing store "Leslie's", which had been named in his honor. He briefly attended the Moritz College of Law. While at Ohio State University, he became a member of Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity.
He attended Ohio State University, and although he had expressed an interest in architecture he graduated in 1959 with a major in business administration. His mother, a first generation American, was born in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn and moved to Columbus, Ohio, as a toddler. His parents were both of Russian-Jewish origin. Leslie Wexner was born in Dayton, Ohio on September 8, 1937, to parents Bella ( née Cabakoff 1908–2001) and Harry Louis Wexner (1899–1975).