Les Wexner: How the billionaire enabled Jeffrey Epstein’s rise
Al Jazeera
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak received Wexner Foundation funds. Years later, he partnered with convicted US sex offender Epstein.
In a closed-door session at his Ohio home on Wednesday, billionaire Leslie Wexner faced mounting questions from United States lawmakers about Jeffrey Epstein’s rise to wealth and influence – and the role he may have played in that ascent.
Five members of the House Oversight Committee had travelled to depose the 88-year-old after Democrats subpoenaed him in the wake of the latest US Department of Justice release tied to Epstein.
The latest tranche of documents, published by the Justice Department on January 30, 2026, is part of a vast wealth of materials amassed during federal investigations into Epstein, who pleaded guilty in 2008 to procuring a minor for prostitution and was later charged in 2019 with sex trafficking of minors before his death by suicide in federal custody. Wexner’s name appears, both redacted and unredacted, on communications and financial documents within these files.
“I was naive, foolish, and gullible to put any trust in Jeffrey Epstein,” Wexner said in a statement. “He was a con man. And while I was conned, I have done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide.”
For decades, Epstein cultivated relationships with business leaders, politicians and academics.
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