2019-08-05_Bloomberg_Businessweek-Europe_Edition

B U S I N E S S

1

14

Edited by

James E. Ellis and

Dimitra Kessenides

Timeisn’tbeingkindtoVictoria’sSecret.The

lingerieretailerhasa problemwiththepastanda

problemwiththefuture—andthatleavesthepres-

entina muddleofcontroversy.

JeffreyEpsteinis supposedtobehistoryatthe

company—andatitsparent,LBrandsInc.,forthat

matter—buthe’sthatskeletonthatkeepsrattling

aroundtheclosettoremindeveryonehewasonce

anall-too-livelypartofthebusiness.Epsteinhada

two-decade-longreignascloseconfidant,financial

manager,andrighthandtothecorporation’schief

executiveofficer,LeslieWexner.Heevenhadthe

CEO’spowerofattorneyatonetime.

Althoughhewasn’tanemployeeatVictoria’s

Secret,Epsteinalsoinfluencedthewaythelin-

geriecompanyoperated,associatingwiththe

division’schiefmarketingofficer,EdRazek.In

2005,forexample,Razekwasa guestatEpstein’s

Manhattanmansion,welcomedbyyoungwomen

whosaidtheywereworkingasmodelsforEpstein.

RazektoldfellowguestWilliamMook,headofMok

IndustriesLLCinColumbus,Ohio,thatVictoria’s

SecretusedEpsteinmodelsandthathisgirlswere

in“themajorleague,”accordingtoMook.

Epstein’srelationshipwithWexnerandLBrands

officially ended in 2007, a year and a half after the

financierwaschargedwithseveralcountsofsexual

misconduct in Florida. He pleaded guilty to one

charge and spent just 13 months in prison with

work-release privileges. That penalty was widely

derided as exceedingly lenient and, after sex traf-

ficking charges against Epstein were resurrected in

July, fresh outrage over the 2007 plea deal led to

the resignation of U.S. Labor Secretary Alex Acosta,

who’d been the U.S. attorney in Miami in charge of

theprosecution.Epsteinnowsitsina Manhattan

jailawaitingtrial—andperhapsmorerevelationsof

salacioussecrets.OnJuly23 he was found injured

in his cell and put on suicide watch.

L Brands’effortstodistanceitselffromEpstein

maynothavebeenallthatcleana break.Epsteinat

onepointhada $1million investment in MC2 Model

Management, according to a sworn deposition by a

former company bookkeeper. MC2 is owned by Jean-

Luc Brunel, a Frenchman who’s alleged in a civil law-

suit to have brought girls as young as 12 to the U.S.

for sexual purposes and provided them to Epstein

and other friends. Brunel even visited Epstein when

he was first imprisoned in 2008. Victoria’s Secret

continued to work with MC2-represented models

after Wexner severed ties with Epstein. At least three

MC2 models walked in its 2015 fashion show, and

Bloomberg Businessweek August 5, 2019

It’s a Man’s World

A modeling agency linked to Jeffrey

Epstein is just one of the chain’s worries