Victoria’s Secret To Be Sold For $525 Million, CEO Les Wexner Is Stepping Down

Victoria’s Secret is preparing to be sold, and its founder is stepping down amid criticism after a huge dip in sales.

According to Fox News, the company’s owner L Brands will sell 55% of its stake to a private equity firm called Sycamore Brands, while retaining the remaining 45% to “enable its shareholders to meaningfully participate in the upside potential of these businesses.”

The lingerie giant has seen its brand decline in sales for some time due to increasing competition and changing tastes among its core demographic. The company suffered a 12 percent drop in same-store sales during last year’s holiday season, and L Brands confirmed that the sales declined 10 % overall during the fourth quarter.

“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 these businesses to their historic levels of profitability and growth,” CEO Les Wexner said in the statement.

Wexner will step down after the sale is complete.

“Les Wexner is a retail legend who has built incredible brands that are household names around the globe. His leadership through this transition exemplifies his commitment to further growth of Bath & Body Works and Victoria’s Secret and driving overall shareholder value,” Allan Tessler, lead independent Board director, said.

Wexner has found himself at the center of intense scrutiny in recent months for his ties to the late, disgraced financier Jeffery Epstein.⠀

According to Fox News, Epstein managed Wexner’s money, beginning in the late 1980s and helped fix finances for a real estate development backed by Wexner in a wealthy suburb of Columbus, Ohio. Wexner has said publicly that he completely severed ties with Epstein nearly 12 years ago and even accused him of misappropriating “vast sums” of his fortune.

Wexner is the longest-serving CEO of an S&P 500 company. He founded what would eventually become L Brands in 1963 with “The Limited” retail store. Last fall, during L Brands’ annual investor day in Columbus, Wexner offered an apology at the opening address, saying he was “embarrassed” by his former ties with the infamous Epstein.