In the lavish corridors of power, two vastly different titans—billionaire retail mogul Les Wexner and Britain’s Prince Andrew—found themselves shockingly linked in the same damning category: both explicitly named as Jeffrey Epstein’s “close friends” in freshly unsealed court records from the Ghislaine Maxwell case.
These documents, pulled from years of litigation, expose how Epstein’s web stretched from Victoria’s Secret fortunes to royal palaces. Wexner, who once entrusted Epstein with managing his vast wealth, and Andrew, photographed arm-in-arm with the financier, appear side-by-side in references that highlight their intimate ties—long after red flags should have waved.
The revelation jolts anew: how much did these elite “friends” truly know about the man at the center of a sex-trafficking nightmare?
In the lavish corridors of power, two titans of vastly different worlds—American billionaire retail magnate Les Wexner and Britain’s Prince Andrew—found themselves shockingly linked in the same damning category: both explicitly named as Jeffrey Epstein’s “close friends” in freshly unsealed court records from the Ghislaine Maxwell case.
The documents, released in tranches through 2024 and 2025 as part of ongoing litigation, include depositions, emails, and witness statements that repeatedly place Wexner and Andrew in Epstein’s innermost circle. In one 2016 deposition, Epstein’s former house manager Alfredo Rodriguez described Wexner as one of the financier’s “closest friends,” noting that Epstein managed Wexner’s fortune for decades and even held power of attorney over his assets. Similarly, multiple references describe Prince Andrew as a “close friend” of Epstein, with flight logs, address books, and witness accounts confirming regular contact and shared social events.
The connections run deep. Les Wexner, founder of L Brands (parent company of Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works), entrusted Epstein with extraordinary financial control from the late 1980s onward. Epstein reportedly handled Wexner’s investments, real-estate deals, and even personal matters. In 1991, Wexner transferred his Manhattan townhouse—the same 21,000-square-foot mansion later used for Epstein’s alleged abuse—to Epstein for a token sum of $1. Wexner later said he severed ties in 2007 after Epstein’s first conviction, claiming he was unaware of any criminal activity.
Prince Andrew’s relationship followed a parallel trajectory. Introduced to Epstein through Ghislaine Maxwell in the 1990s, the Duke of York socialized with him repeatedly, stayed at his properties, and flew on his private jet. Photographs show the two men arm-in-arm at social events, and Andrew himself acknowledged in a 2019 BBC interview that Epstein was a “useful” friend for networking. He, too, insists he ended contact years before Epstein’s 2019 arrest and denies any knowledge of wrongdoing.
Yet the unsealed files paint a picture of enduring intimacy. Epstein’s own handwritten address book, entered into evidence, lists both men prominently. Witnesses in the Maxwell trial and related cases described Epstein boasting about his “close friends” in high places, including Wexner and Andrew, as proof of his influence. The juxtaposition is stark: one man built an empire on lingerie and retail, the other on royal bloodlines—both apparently saw no red flags in Epstein’s orbit for years.
The revelations have reignited outrage. Victim advocates argue that such powerful “friends” enabled Epstein’s impunity, whether through willful blindness or willful participation. Wexner has faced scrutiny over why he granted Epstein such unchecked authority; Andrew’s ties cost him his royal titles and public role after settling a civil lawsuit with Virginia Giuffre in 2022. Neither has been criminally charged in connection with Epstein’s crimes, and both maintain they knew nothing of the sex-trafficking operation.
As more documents trickle out, the question lingers: how much did these elite “friends” truly know about the man at the center of a nightmare that ruined countless lives? The court files do not provide a definitive answer, but their repeated pairing in Epstein’s inner circle—Wexner and Andrew, side-by-side in the same damning category—serves as a chilling reminder of how privilege can shield even the most troubling associations until the records themselves speak.
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