L Brands Inc. LB, +0.75% founder and longtime Chief Executive Leslie Wexner said he wasn’t aware of his former money manager Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged criminal behavior, breaking his silence on the matter to say that his “heart goes out to each and every person who has been hurt.”
“I would never have guessed that a person I employed more than a decade ago could have caused such pain to so many people,” Wexner wrote in a memo Monday to employees of his retail company, which owns Victoria’s Secret. “I have searched my soul…reflected…and regretted that my path ever crossed his.”
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.
Epstein’s two-decade relationship with Wexner, which extended into the 81-year-old’s retail companies, charities and personal life, became crucial to Epstein’s eventual wealth and prominence, the Journal has reported. Wexner said he severed all ties with Epstein nearly 12 years ago and “I would not have continued to work with any individual capable of such egregious, sickening behavior as has been reported about him.”
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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