Wexner is founder and chairman of L Brands, the owner of more than 3,000 women's apparel and beauty stores. The Columbus, Ohio-based retailer has locations in the U.S., U.K., Canada and China, and reported revenue of $13.2 billion in the year to Feb. 2, 2019. Its stores includes Victoria's Secret, PINK and Bath & Body Works.
Les Wexner's net worth of $6.43B can buy ...
... and is equivalent to ...
The majority of Wexner's fortune is derived from his stake in L Brands, the publicly traded retailer formerly known as Limited Brands. He controls more than 47 million shares directly, through trusts and a retirement account, according to the company's 2019 proxy statement. L Brands has more than 3,000 company-owned stores, according to its website.
The value of his cash investments is based on an analysis of dividends, insider transactions, taxes, charitable giving and market performance.
Tammy Roberts Myers, a spokeswoman for Wexner, declined to comment on the billionaire's net worth.
Leslie Wexner was born to Russian immigrants on Sept. 8, 1937 in Dayton, Ohio. They owned and ran Leslie's, a small shop in downtown Columbus. He graduated from Ohio State University in 1959, and served in the Air National Guard, according to a biography on the company's website. After that, he worked at the family's shop.
Wexner started Limited Brands in 1963 as a single store in the Kingsdale Shopping Center in Columbus. It had sales of $160,000 in its first year. The billionaire started the business as a specialty retailer focusing on apparel and has expanded it into a business with more than $10 billion in sales. The company, now known as L Brands, also sells lingerie and beauty products.
Wexner, who has committed $100 million to Ohio State University's medical center, has four children with his wife, Abigail.