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Grizzly Bulls’ Billionaires Index

⬅ # 529 Ruan Xueping|# 531 Mark Scheinberg ➡

# 530 Les Wexner 

$5.71B

Real Time Net Worth
as of 7/25/2024
$4.5M (0.08%)

# 530 Les Wexner 

$5.71B

Real Time Net Worth
as of 7/25/2024
$4.5M (0.08%)
OccupationCofounder, Bath & Body Works
Source of WealthRetail
Age86
ResidenceNew Albany, Ohio
Marital StatusMarried
Children4
EducationBS, Ohio State University
Age-Adjusted Net Worth$982.55M
Les Wexner
Les Wexner
United States
Net worth: $5.71B

Self-Made Score 

Wealth History

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Biography

Early Life and Education

Leslie Herbert Wexner was born on September 8, 1937, in Dayton, Ohio, to parents Bella and Harry Louis Wexner, both of Russian-Jewish origin.
Attended Bexley High School and Ohio State University.
Initially expressed interest in architecture but graduated in 1959 with a major in business administration.
Joined the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity during his time at Ohio State University.
Served in the Air National Guard and briefly attended the Moritz College of Law.
Joined his parents' clothing store, eventually opening his own store called The Limited in 1963 with a $5,000 loan from his aunt.

Career Beginnings

Founded The Limited in 1963, initially selling moderately priced merchandise like skirts and sweaters.
Opened the first store in 1963 in the Kingsdale Shopping Center in Upper Arlington, Ohio.
Expanded The Limited considerably in the 1970s, opening the 100th store in 1976.
Took on significant debt in 1978 to purchase the importer and manufacturer Mast Industries, gaining essential business advantages.
Took The Limited public in 1969, listed as LTD on the NYSE.
Mentored by A. Alfred Taubman, leading to partnerships on deals involving shopping malls.

Victoria's Secret Acquisition

Acquired Victoria's Secret in 1982 for $1 million, transforming it from a failing lingerie chain to a billion-dollar enterprise.
Victoria's Secret initially attracted Wexner due to its unique merchandise and Victorian-era decor.
Bought the company from Stanford graduate Roy Raymond, who was facing bankruptcy.
Implemented marketing strategies, including the use of supermodels in annual fashion shows, which contributed to the brand's success.
By 2015, sales were in decline, leading to the discontinuation of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in 2018.

Jeffrey Epstein Association

Hired Jeffrey Epstein as financial manager from 1987 to 2007, with Epstein primarily managing Wexner's finances.
Epstein's association with Wexner led to public scrutiny after accusations of financial misappropriation and Epstein's legal troubles.
Wexner cut ties with Epstein in 2007, following Epstein's charges of unlawful sexual activity with a minor.

Philanthropy

Made significant donations to various institutions, including the United Way, Ohio State University, and the Wexner Center for the Arts.
Established the Wexner Foundation to educate Jewish communal leaders and co-founded the Mega Group, a philanthropic club addressing Jewish issues.

Personal Life

Married Abigail S. Koppel in 1993; the couple has four children and resides in New Albany, Ohio.
Owns significant properties including a Georgian-inspired estate in New Albany and the mid-18th century Foxcote House in England.

How long would it take you to become as rich as Les Wexner?

If you started with $10,000 and invested an additional $500 each month at a 44.11% CAGR, it would take you 5 years to reach Les Wexner's net worth of $5.71B.

Is this realistic? It depends how closely the VIX-TA-Macro Advanced model performs to its history in the future. Since Grizzly Bulls launched on January 1, 2022, it's returned 52.22% compared to 16.62% for the S&P 500 benchmark.

Enter data in all but one field below, then calculate the missing value

Les Wexner is very wealthy, but what's stopping you from reaching that same level of success? As summarized in our five fundamental rules to wealth building, becoming wealthy in a modern capitalist economy is not complicated. There's actually only three variables:

  1. Your starting capital
  2. Your earnings after expenses
  3. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of your savings

Most people start with zero or very little, so if you weren't born into wealth, don't fret! The majority of the fortunate folks listed in our Grizzly Bulls’ Billionaires Index came from middle class or lower backgrounds. The most distinguishing characteristic of the group is their ability to consistently earn a high CAGR on their savings.

Every billionaire has a unique strategy to achieve high CAGR. For Les Wexner, Retail is the primary source. Whether you choose to invest your savings in your own businesses or the businesses of others is not as important. The salient piece of the puzzle is ensuring that your hard-earned savings are generating sufficient CAGR to reach your long term goals.

Most people simply invest their money in index funds and call it a day. There's nothing wrong with this approach, but it guarantees relative mediocrity. To achieve greatness, you need to invest your money to earn higher than average returns. In the long run, better investors will always finish ahead of better earners.

Source: Grizzly Bulls reporting

Methodology: Grizzly Bulls' Billionaires Index is a daily ranking of the world's billionaires and richest people. Grizzly Bulls strives to provide the most accurate net worth calculations available. We pull data from public equity markets, SEC filings, public real estate records, and other reputable sources.

The index is dynamic and updates daily at the close of U.S. stock market trading based on changes in the markets, economy, and updates to Grizzly Bulls' proprietary algorithm of personal wealth calculation. Stakes in public companies are tracked daily based on the relevant closing prices of the underlying securities. Additionally, stakes in private companies, cash, real estate, and other less easily valued assets are updated periodically through careful analysis of insider transactions, comparable public company sales / EBITDA multiples, etc.

Edited by: Lee Bailey