Les Wexner Retires As L Brands CEO, Victoria’s Secret Sold

Longtime CEO Les Wexner is stepping down from his position, Columbus-based L Brands announced Thursday, and the company is selling a majority stake in lingerie brand Victoria's Secret to a private equity firm.

Wexner will become chairman emeritus, according to a Thursday morning email from the company.

Victoria's Secret and offshoot PINK are being acquired by New York-based Sycamore Partners, which purchased a 55 percent interest for approximately $525 million. L Brands will retain a 45 percent stake in Victoria’s Secret.

Bath & Body Works will become a stand-alone public company, with Andrew Meslow promoted to CEO. Once the sale of Victoria's Secret is complete, Meslow will become CEO of L Brands.

Meslow joined L Brands in 2003 and spent the last 15 years working at Bath & Body Works.

"We believe the separation of Victoria's Secret Lingerie, Victoria's Secret Beauty and PINK into a privately held company provides the best path to restoring those businesses to their historic levels of profitability and growth," Wexner said in a statement.

Under Wexner’s watch, Victoria’s Secret soared to worldwide fame with sales of $7 billion a year. But sales have slumped in recent years amid changing consumer demands. Last year, Victoria's Secret laid off 15 percent of its corporate office employees as part of a restructuring.

In Thursday's press release, L Brands reported it expects an overall 2 percent decline in sales in the fourth quarter, including a 10 percent decline at Victoria's Secret. Bath & Body Works reported a 10 percent increase in sales.

The company canceled its iconic fashion show last year, although L Brands’ Chief Financial Officer Stu Burgdoerfer said it could eventually return.

Wexner has also faced increasing calls to step down because of his connection to accused child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein, who died last year, was a long-time financial adviser to Wexner, who repeatedly said he never knew about Epstein’s alleged crimes.

Earlier this month, the L Brands board of directors released an apology in response to an investigationpublished by the ‘ New York Times’ about Victoria's Secret's "culture of misogyny." The newspaper reported that Wexner and a former executive permitted a sexist and unsafe work environment at Victoria's Secret, with employees saying they faced persistent inappropriate conduct and faced retaliation for reporting misbehavior.

“With the adoption in recent years of even more robust anti-harassment policies, hotline reporting, and training, we have made significant strides in ensuring that the company provides a safe, welcoming, and empowering workplace for every associate,” the board said in a statement. “We regret any instance where we did not achieve this objective and are fully committed to continuous improvement and complete accountability.”

Wexner grew up in Dayton before attending The Ohio State University. He started his first Limited store in Upper Arlington's Kingsdale Shopping Center in 1963 and took the company public in 1969. He’s served as CEO ever since and is now the longest-servinng chief executive among all Fortune 500 companies.

Wexner spoke about opening his first store as part of WOSU's “ Columbus Neighborhoods: Tri-Village” documentary.

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