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class="ContentHearWrapper-clujbs hksevn ntent-hear article__ntent-hear"><div data-ttid="ContentHearContaer" class="ContentHearContaer-cGKRbE knDxNq"><div class="ContentHearHedAccredatnWrapper-GFiQf cDNVlV"><div data-ttid="ContentHearTleBlockWrapper" class="ContentHearTleBlockWrapper-cjmSKp ikebRK"><div data-ttid="ContentHearRubric" class="ContentHearRubricBlock-LmpbT hjnEYM"><div data-ttid="ContentHearRubricDateBlock" class="ContentHearRubricDateBlock-kAQcZP fTFWxD"><div class="RubricWrapper-dKmCNX iJOI bric ContentHearRubricContaer-eTudtt edKnIL"><span class="RubricName-fVtemz cLxcNi">From the Magaze</span></div></div><div class="RubricWrapper-dKmCNX iJOI bric ContentHearRubricIssueDate-CuIT fFtVss"><span class="RubricName-fVtemz cLxcNi">July/Augt 2021 Issue</span></div></div><h1 data-ttid="ContentHearHed" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ ContentHearHed-NCyCC iUEiRd khNpd gydgrM">The Mogul and the Monster: Insi Jefey Epste’s Des-Long Relatnship Wh His Biggt Client</h1><span class="ContentHearContentDivir-liIxwf eicslv"></span></div><div class="ContentHearAccredatn-lfctVB etVsnJ ntent-hear__accredatn" data-ttid="ContentHearAccredatn"><div class="ContentHearDek-bIqFFZ fYeNbg">Of the many mysteri that still surround the life and crim of the notor fancier, the source of his wealth, and th his power, might be the greatt. His long-standg bs ti wh his most proment client, billnaire retail magnate Llie Wexner, hold the key.</div><div class="ContentHearByle-kmPyCa emiglw"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW jvZaPI rponsive-asset ContentHearContributorImage-cvjZXn epCAJC"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa ContentHearContributorImage-cvjZXn epCAJC rponsive-image"><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 80w" siz="66px"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 90w" siz="66px"/><img alt="" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></picture></span><div class="ContentHearByleContent-dpPmNn DRFq"><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl ContentHearByl-cZqgyJ bHLeKI"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH jqYyWD byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span emProp="name" class="ByleNamWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo"><span data-ttid="ByleName" class="ByleName-kwmrLn cYaBaU byle__name"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BylePreamble-iJolpQ iUEiRd bIbWCO gnILss byle__preamble">By </span><a class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM ByleLk-gEnFiw iUEiRd kIEUAJ lddgzd eErqIx byle__name-lk button" href="/ntributor/gabriel-sherman">Gabriel Sherman</a></span></span></p></div><time data-ttid="ContentHearPublishDate" dateTime="2021-06-08T06:00:00-04:00" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ ContentHearPublishDate-eIBicG iUEiRd bSlZUC cmPkTr">June 8, 2021</time></div></div></div></div><div class="ContentHearLeadAsset-hGbumP dDDxdb lead-asset ContentHearLeadAssetWrapper-hfXHEc Grck" data-ttid="ContentHearLeadAsset"><figure class="ContentHearLeadAssetContent-kOfYSG dRGWbI"><div class="ContentHearLeadAssetContentMedia-bLEIpi jjhWdS lead-asset__ntent__photo"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW jvZaPI rponsive-asset ContentHearRponsiveAsset-bREgIb hONbnm"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz eIhPZj"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa ContentHearRponsiveAsset-bREgIb hONbnm rponsive-image"><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w, 960w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w, 960w, 1280w, 1600w, 1920w, 2240w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="Image may nta Rsell Simmons Human Person Audience Crowd Indoors Interr Dign and Eric Eisner" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></picture></div></div></span><div class="CaptnWrapper-jSZdqE kIXbGQ ptn ContentHearLeadAssetCaptn-hPWmSN gFWya-d"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ CaptnCred-ejegDm iUEiRd hCJFDV fNaHcW ptn__cred">BY BILLY FARRELL/PATRICKMCMULLAN/GETTY IMAGES.</span></div></div></figure></div></div></hear></div><div data-attribute-verso-pattern="article-body" class="ArticlePageContentBackGround-cNiFNN diFyUH article-body__ntent"><div class="ActnBarWrapperContent-lasBkU cAHp"><div class="ActnBarWrapperComponent-cjwxLS bEeSLb"><div data-attr-viewport-monor="" class="ActnBarWrapper-dhxmQh izlawS viewport-monor-anchor"><button id="bookmark" aria-label="Save" class="ActnBarButton-dyFOZU foKBbl bookmark large-screen"><span class="ActnBarSendaryButtonPrimaryIn-isbvyN cAwccV bookmark-button-in"><svg class="in in-bookmark" width="24" height="24" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" xmlns="><tle>Save this story</tle><path class="in-bookmark-stroke" d="M11.7661 16.3228L4.5 20.1695V3.5H19.5V20.1695L12.2339 16.3228L12 16.199L11.7661 16.3228Z" stroke-lep="square"/></svg></span><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ ActnBarButtonText-bYXYuh iUEiRd kdAzed gkccfO">Save</span></button></div><div data-attr-viewport-monor="" class="ActnBarWrapper-dhxmQh ledqMp viewport-monor-anchor"><button id="bookmark" aria-label="Save" class="ActnBarButton-dyFOZU ePWKOF bookmark mobile"><span class="ActnBarSendaryButtonPrimaryIn-isbvyN cAwccV bookmark-button-in"><svg class="in in-bookmark" width="24" height="24" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" xmlns="><tle>Save this story</tle><path class="in-bookmark-stroke" d="M11.7661 16.3228L4.5 20.1695V3.5H19.5V20.1695L12.2339 16.3228L12 16.199L11.7661 16.3228Z" stroke-lep="square"/></svg></span><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ ActnBarButtonText-bYXYuh iUEiRd kdAzed gkccfO">Save</span></button></div></div></div><div class="ArticlePageChunksContent-etcMtP bwyLBj"><div data-ttid="ArticlePageChunks" class="ArticlePageChunks-fLyCVG eSsnKa"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bDFJoo"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa lnwCqV body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p class="has-dropp">In the fall of 1982, a money manager named Harold Lev got a phone ll that would change his life. A lawyer reprentg Llie H. Wexner, the founr and CEO of the women’s apparel retailer The Limed, said Wexner was lookg for a fancial adviser. Would Lev be terted? Lev most certaly was. In Columb, Oh, where Lev lived, Wexner was a legend. Wexner grew The Limed om a sgle Columb store to a global retail empire that clud mall fixtur Abercrombie & Fch, Victoria’s Secret, and Bath & Body Works.</p><figure data-ttid="IameEmbed" class="IameEmbedWrapper-sc-dRedg hZiq iame-embed"><div data-ttid="IameEmbedContaer" class="IameEmbedContaer-hptgUZ hSLYci"><div class="IameEmbedAspectRatWrapper-hFVJps BKpgQ"><iame class="IameEmbedContent-cMdiev csnuAY IameEmbedContent lazyload" height="100" width="350" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-orig allow-popups allow-popups-to-pe-sandbox" tle="Embedd Frame" data-src=" allow="toplay *; encrypted-media *; clipboard-wre; toplay; fullscreen; picture--picture"></iame></div></div></figure><p class="paywall">Lev land the job after six months of gelg terviews. He wasn’t makg Masters of the Universe money—Wexner paid a salary of $250,000 a year—but was enough for Lev to move his fay to a 6,000-square-foot hoe across the street om Wexner Bexley, Columb’s most exclive suburb. By 1986, Wexner ranked sixth on the <em>Forb</em> 400 list of richt Amerins, wh a worth timated at $1.4 billn. “In New York, I had bankers nstantly takg me out to dner,” Lev told me. Once, the manager of the Regency Hotel arranged a private tour of Le Bernard. “The kchen was so clean, you uld eat off the floor,” Lev remembered. Wexner entsted Lev wh creasgly amb projects. Startg the mid-1980s, Lev purchased thoands of acr of farmland New Albany (populatn 414) on the outskirts of Columb, where Wexner planned to build his very own town moled on an 18th-century Geian village. “L sent me to Richmond, Virgia, to look at archecture he wanted to py,” Lev said.</p><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad---ntent"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot---ntent" data-no-id="2xbzz"></div></div><p class="paywall">On one of Lev’s trips to New York 1989, Wexner asked him to meet a brilliant young fancier who wanted to pch an vtment opportuny.</p><div class="Contaer-bkChBi byNLHx"></div><p class="paywall">Lev had never heard of the man, Jefey Epste, which was odd. After workg for Wexner for seven years, Lev knew virtually every player on Wall Street (a few months earlier, Lev says, he met wh arbragr Ivan Boky). Lev’s skepticism was nfirmed as soon as he arrived at Epste’s Madison Avenue office. There were no visible signs of a tradg operatn; jt Epste stg behd a sk that didn’t even have a puter. “Epste was tryg to expla a currency tra he wanted to do. I have an MBA om Oh State, and I didn’t unrstand a word the man said,” Lev relled. Lev went back to Columb and reported that Epste was a d. “I told L, ‘Stay away om him,’ ” Lev remembered. Wexner agreed not to do the tra.</p><div class="GenericCalloutWrapper-tojWn jWCtnc llout--has-top-borr" data-ttid="GenericCallout"><div class="ExternalLkEmbedWrapper-hNDkqw SqhAH" data-ttid="external-lk-embed--le"><div class="ExternalLkEmbedText-glBTSy kAxHEA"><a aria-label="<strong>From the Archive:</strong> <em>In Pla Sight</em>" class="external-lk external-lk-embed__hed-lk button" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ ExternalLkEmbedHed-dSIMOS iUEiRd DfQi ldPVhb"><strong>From the Archive:</strong> <em>In Pla Sight</em></span></a><svg class="ExternalLkEmbedArrowIn-kYztoV dQMQjq in in-arrow" focable="false" viewBox="0 0 32 32" width="32" height="32" xmlns="><tle>Arrow</tle><path d="M21.071 15L15 8.929l1.414-1.414L24.9 16l-8.485 8.485L15 23.071 21.071 17H8v-2z" fill-le="nonzero"></path></svg></div><a aria-label="<strong>From the Archive:</strong> <em>In Pla Sight</em>" class="external-lk external-lk-embed__image-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa ExternalLkEmbedRponsiveImage-iGydLQ dGzCDw rponsive-image"><img alt="" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src=" srcSet=" 120w" siz="100vw"/></picture></a></div></div><p class="paywall">Lev was shocked when Epste showed up Columb a few months later and announced Wexner had put him charge of his fanc. Lev tried to prott but says Wexner wouldn’t take his lls. Lev uldn’t stand havg Epste as a boss. “He was an asshole. The most arrogant person I ever met,” Lev relled. A few months later, Lev qu.</p><div><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--article-mid-ntent" role="prentatn" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--article-mid-ntent nsumer-marketg-un__slot---ntent"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></div><p class="paywall">Lev said Epste tnted him on his way out. “On my last day, Epste walked to my office and held up a piece of paper. He bragged that L had given him power of attorney over his money. I worked for L for seven years and I never had general power of attorney,” Lev said. Epste, Lev ntued, even orred him to surrenr equy Wexner’s town project, likely stg Lev lns. “Epste basilly said, ‘If you want, you n fight out, but I have a lot of lawyers and I’ll make sure ’ll st you a fortune.’ ”</p></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="92hg76"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bDFJoo"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa lnwCqV body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p class="paywall">Lev’s life unraveled. He uldn’t fd a job. Friends told him Epste was spreadg mors around Columb and on Wall Street that Wexner had fired him for misappropriatg funds. His wife filed for divorce, Lev said, and their three children stopped speakg to him. “I had a nervo breakdown. I was livg out of my r for a while,” Lev said. He applied for jobs g puters at the library and showered at state parks. “Epste ed my life. I lost everythg,” Lev said.</p><p class="has-dropp paywall">Two years after guards disvered Epste unnsc his Manhattan prison cell, the pedophile’s life and myster ath rema a subject of fevered speculatn and nspiracy theorizg. Was Epste an telligence agent? A based fancial geni? A socpathic n man who fleeced billnair and policians wh sexual blackmail?</p><p class="paywall">In a search for answers, I spent the past six months vtigatg the Epste mystery that uld unlock others: How did he get his money? For was Epste’s half-billn-dollar fortune that enabled him to sexually abe and traffic hundreds of girls on multiple ntents. “There’s no qutn that Epste uld not have done what he did whout the support of people that provid him money,” said attorney David Boi, whose firm reprents numero Epste accers, cludg Virgia Roberts Giufe.</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-1 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p class="paywall">Epste burnished his own myth, tellg people, preposteroly, that he only accepted clients wh assets of $1 billn or more. But until recently, Epste’s only publicly named client was Wexner. “When I asked Jefey who else he worked wh, he’d say, ‘I n’t talk about ,’ ” an Epste iend relled. Wexner paid Epste’s precsor about $600,000 a year today’s dollars. Epste, a former high school math teacher om Coney Island, Brooklyn, was worth a reported $559 ln. His tate clud a 51,000-square-foot Manhattan town hoe (bought om Wexner); a private jet (formerly owned by The Limed) and a helipter; a Caribbean island; a Paris apartment; a Palm Beach mansn; and a 10,000-acre New Mexi ranch. (Epste’s brother’s real tate pany also had majory ownership of a Manhattan ndo buildg on East 66th Street where Epste allegedly hoed girls. The buildg was formerly owned by Wexner.) Prosecutors say that Epste built his vast sex-traffickg rg throughout the ’90s and early ghts. In other words, Epste beme <em>Epste</em> durg his long associatn wh Wexner.</p><figure class="AssetEmbedWrapper-eVDQiB byBkf asset-embed"><div class="AssetEmbedAssetContaer-eJxoAx dBHGoQ asset-embed__asset-ntaer"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset rponsive-image"><noscript><img alt="Image may nta Accsori Tie Accsory Human Person L Wexner Fashn Premiere Clothg Su and Overat" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src=" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w, 960w, 1280w, 1600w" siz="100vw"/></noscript></picture></span></div><div class="CaptnWrapper-jSZdqE kIXbGQ ptn AssetEmbedCaptn-fNQBPI fmQnYP asset-embed__ptn"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ CaptnText-bHjzlu iUEiRd hBkROF iXWezO ptn__text">Llie Wexner wh his wife Abigail Wexner and son Harry Wexner durg the Royal Shakpeare Company performance of "Romeo and Juliet" at the Park Avenue Armory New York, July 12, 2011.</span><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ CaptnCred-ejegDm iUEiRd hCJFDV fNaHcW ptn__cred">By Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg/Getty Imag.</span></div></figure><p class="paywall">When Epste plead guilty to two unts, cludg solicg a mor for prostutn, Palm Beach June 2008 and registered as a Level 3 sex offenr New York, Wexner refed to discs him. In 2019, a Wexner spokman told <em>The Washgton Post</em> that the Wexners had severed all ti wh Epste 2007. They nmned Epste’s actns, the spokman said. It was only after Epste died that Wexner scribed their relatnship—and even then opaque terms. In Wexner’s tellg, he was another Epste victim preyed upon by a v mastermd. “Beg taken advantage of by someone who was so sick, so cunng, so praved is somethg that I’m embarrassed that I was even close to,” Wexner said durg a speech September 2019. In a letter to his charable foundatn around this time, Wexner claimed Epste had “misappropriated vast sums of money om me and my fay.” Epste had reportedly transferred back nearly $47 ln to a Wexner-ntrolled chary fund 2008.</p></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="vpwsug"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bDFJoo"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa lnwCqV body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p class="paywall">But Wexner’s belated attempts to expla himself only raised more qutns. Why, for stance, did Wexner not report Epste’s alleged $47 ln theft to the FBI? Or how uld Wexner claim to be bldsid by Epste’s duplicons? “I told L, ‘I wouldn’t tst Epste to cross the street—why are you tstg him wh your money?’ ” relled Jerry Merrt, a former Oh state highway patrolman who served as The Limed’s secury chief for more than 25 years.</p><p class="paywall">In reportg this article, I spoke to more than 30 people who had firsthand enunters wh Epste or Wexner. (Wexner, who announced he was steppg down om the board of his pany March, cled numero terview requts.) The story that emerged is a eply strange one. Sourc say Epste occupied different rol Wexner’s life pendg on the dience. “Jefey partmentalized. He told you what you wanted to hear,” Epste’s former lawyer Alan Dershowz told me. Epste sometim portrayed himself as a surrogate son to a lonely billnaire. He told some people he was Wexner’s fixer. Dershowz said that when he beme Epste’s crimal lawyer 2007, Epste boasted that Wexner would not ttify agast him. Whatever the nature of their relatnship, Epste’s long-standg nnectn to one of Ameri’s richt men arguably aid his public profile, addg to his air of legimacy and th his power.</p><p class="has-dropp paywall">Wexner met Epste sometime around 1986. They were troduced by Wexner’s close iend the surance mogul Robert Meister, whose firm handled surance for The Limed. I spoke wh Meister April, and he opened up for the first time about the origs of Wexner and Epste’s relatnship. It was history that Meister, 79, found difficult to revis. “I walked away om Epste a long time ago, and I’ve been tryg to erase him om my md ever sce,” he said.</p><p class="paywall">Epste stck up a nversatn wh Meister on a mercial flight to Palm Beach. Meister remembered beg imprsed wh the young banker. In realy, Epste lived a one-bedroom apartment and ran a fledglg vtment firm. (Epste had been forced to leave Bear Stearns 1981. He told Securi and Exchange Commissn vtigators he had been penalized after lettg a iend borrow money to buy stock, that there were irregulari wh his expense acunt, and that there were mors at the firm about his relatnship wh a secretary.) “He was a great bullsh artist,” Meister said. People who knew Epste remarked at his savant-like skill at imprsg powerful olr men. “Jefey was a flatterer,” said terr signer Robert Couturier, who met Epste the 1980s. “Jefey would ll me every day and say, ‘Oh you’re so brilliant. You’re the bt.’ ” Epste’s iend Stuart Pivar, a founr of the New York Amy of Art, said Epste’s magism was almost impossible to rist. “If you had hundreds of lns of dollars and you knew Jefey, there’s a high likelihood that you’d give to him. He was that good of a n man.”</p><p class="paywall">In hdsight, Meister spects Epste aggrsively cultivated him the hope that Meister would open doors to his billnaire iends—like Wexner. Not long after Epste met Meister, Epste ved Meister to play racquetball and started turng up the steam room at his gym while he was g . “I’d be havg a steam and Epste would e ,” Meister said. Durg one nversatn, Epste asked Meister to troduce him to Wexner. Epste falsely said he had learned that Wexner’s money manager was stealg om him. Epste, a self-scribed fancial “bounty hunter,” offered to help rever the funds. It was nvcg enough that Meister arranged a meetg for Epste at Wexner’s hoe Aspen. “Epste was such a liar,” Meister said. In Wexner’s 2019 letter to his foundatn, he wrote that he hired Epste bee iends “remend him as a knowledgeable fancial profsnal.”</p><p class="paywall">Soon after troducg Wexner and Epste, Meister started hearg disturbg stori about Epste’s sexual proclivi. “Thk of whatever the worst thg anyone uld do is, and Epste did them all,” Meister said. The breakg pot me when Epste showed up unannounced at Meister’s Park Avenue apartment wh five mols for Meister’s sexual entertament. “Epste thought he was brgg me a gift,” Meister relled. “I told him, ‘Get the fuck out and I never want to see you aga!’ ”</p><blockquote class="BlockquoteEmbedWrapper-sc-SdiGL kMAUQf paywall blockquote-embed"><div class="BlockquoteEmbedContent-RbGs fyBRiV blockquote-embed__ntent"><asi aria-hidn="te" class="PullQuoteEmbedWrapper-sc-EoVjf fQbAzo"><div class="PullQuoteDerativeBorr-sc-iUyOLj UnBFT"></div><div class="PullQuoteEmbedContent-sc-kTcfhx hNqtol"><p>For an trovert like Wexner, Epste was a social nnector who populated Wexner’s life wh gltery people.</p></div></asi></div></blockquote></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="nrw74"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bDFJoo"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa lnwCqV body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p class="paywall">Meister, whose timatn of Epste had done a total 180, gave his iend a general warng about his character. Meister says he and his wife, Wendy, warned Wexner to stay away om Epste. “We begged him, don’t get volved,” Meister relled. It was too late: Wexner had hired Epste as his fancial adviser. “He thought Epste was brilliant,” Meister said.</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-2 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p class="paywall">Epste claimed he uld discern hidn patterns fancial markets, but his te moneymakg gift was readg people. He surely regnized Wexner was eply lonely. “Bs was L’s life,” said Wexner’s childhood iend Peter Halliday, whose Oh bank prepared The Limed’s first stock offerg. Wexner was born Dayton, Oh, 1937 to Rsian Jewish parents who worked the garment bs. When Wexner entered high school, his fay moved om Dayton to Columb, where his father, Harry, opened a small women’s apparel store lled Llie’s. “It was tough movg to a new muny. L didn’t make a mark for himself,” Halliday said.</p><p class="paywall">Wexner hoped to bee an archect like Howard Roark, the libertarian protagonist of Ayn Rand’s <em>The Fountahead.</em> Harry sisted he study bs at Oh State. L briefly enrolled law school but dropped out to work for the fay bs. As the story go, L wanted Harry to rry a limed ventory foced on sual cloth, and when Harry disagreed, L qu. In 1963, L opened The Limed wh a $5,000 loan om his nt Ida. “I built a bs so I uld create my own world,” L later told the <em>New York Tim.</em> Wh a year, Harry closed Llie’s and was workg for L.</p><p class="paywall">Wexner may have been CEO, but seemed that his mother, Bella, was the boss. For 34 years she served as The Limed’s rporate secretary. A former executive relled that Bella beltled her son meetgs when she didn’t like his ias. “It’ll never work! Don’t do !” Bella would yell ont of his staff. “I remember stg there thkg, How dare this woman?” the executive said. L seemed to be terrified of Bella. Acrdg to Meister, L would sometim stay at Meister’s hoe Palm Beach so that Bella, whose Palm Beach hoe was near L’s, wouldn’t know L was town. “He was aaid of her. She was nng his life,” Meister said.</p><p class="paywall">By 1976, The Limed operated 100 stor. Two years later, Wexner risked bankptg the pany when he borrowed $30 ln to acquire the logistics pany Mast Indtri, which operated a dozen factori Asia and ntracted wh hundreds of others around the world. The gamble proved to be Wexner’s geni move, ak to McDonald’s revolutnizg fast food. By ntrollg productn and shippg, Wexner globalized the apparel bs. Wexner’s re sight was that baby boomers viewed shoppg as a form of entertament. The Limed’s supply cha allowed Wexner to rapidly roll out new clothg l at lower st and keep ctomers g back.</p><p class="paywall">As shoppg malls spread across the untry, The Limed boomed. Wexner went on an acquisn spree the 1980s. He took over the Lane Bryant and Lerner chas, the partment store Henri Benl and a stgglg Palo Alto lgerie store lled Victoria’s Secret. At the time he met Epste, The Limed had an annual revenue of $3 billn. Dpe the succs, Wexner remaed ltle known outsi Oh. Meister relled a party Aspen when Donald Tmp walked up to Wexner and said, “Nice to meet you, now how did you get so fuckg rich?”</p><p class="has-dropp paywall">Wexner and Epste soon beme virtually separable. They were an odd pair. Wexner was his late 40s, wh a round face and big ears. Epste was his early 30s and dashg—om the right angle he looked like Richard Gere. “L knows everythg about me. He knows every experience I’ve had,” Epste once told a iend. Wexner’s public image ntued to grow after hirg Epste. A 1989 <em>Boston Globe</em> profile that tailed Wexner’s rise reported that his September 1 diary entry that year read: “I fally like myself.” (In a filmed posn, featured the Netflix documentary <em>Filthy Rich,</em> Brad Edwards, a lawyer for some of Epste’s victims, asked Epste if he had a sexual relatnship wh Wexner. Epste nied .)</p><p class="paywall">Merrt, The Limed’s secury chief, was unnerved by the sudn iendship. Merrt relled a weekend the late 1980s when Wexner ved Epste to shoot at targets on land Wexner owned ral Oh. “L had started llectg guns, but L didn’t know which end of a gun worked,” Merrt said. Merrt reced a world-class trap shooter named Jim Forsbach to teach Wexner to shoot, but, Merrt said, Wexner relied on Epste. “Epste had this <em>Magnum, P.I.</em> gun. He didn’t know what he was dog. It looked like he’d never taken out of the holster,” Merrt relled.</p><p class="paywall">Epste was a social nnector who populated Wexner’s troverted life wh gltery people. Novelist Christa Oxenberg remembered beg ved by Epste to a dner party at Wexner’s Upper East Si town hoe not long after Epste took over Wexner’s fanc. “L seemed like this mpled, sweaty schlub. He was so ill at ease. And there was Jefey facilatg the nversatn,” Oxenberg told me. Dershowz said the first time he met Epste, at the Martha’s Veyard home of Lynn Forter Rothschild, Epste ved him to be a gut of honor at Wexner’s upg birthday dner. “Jefey said somethg like, ‘For a prent, my iend Llie Wexner wants me to ve the most important man I met this year,’ ” Dershowz relled. The flattery worked: Dershowz attend. Other guts clud astront John Glenn and former Israeli prime mister Shimon Per.</p></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="pz0ztb"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bDFJoo"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa lnwCqV body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><figure class="AssetEmbedWrapper-eVDQiB byBkf asset-embed"><div class="AssetEmbedAssetContaer-eJxoAx dBHGoQ asset-embed__asset-ntaer"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset rponsive-image"><noscript><img alt="Image may nta Clothg Apparel Human Person Performer Su Coat Overat Tuxedo and Jacquele Kennedy Onassis" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src=" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w, 960w, 1280w, 1600w" siz="100vw"/></noscript></picture></span></div><div class="CaptnWrapper-jSZdqE kIXbGQ ptn AssetEmbedCaptn-fNQBPI fmQnYP asset-embed__ptn"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ CaptnText-bHjzlu iUEiRd hBkROF iXWezO ptn__text">Wexner wh Jackie Onassis and Brooke Astor 1991. </span><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ CaptnCred-ejegDm iUEiRd hCJFDV fNaHcW ptn__cred">© Mara Garnier/Globe Photos/Alamy.</span></div></figure><p class="paywall">Wexner’s physil appearance changed. A former Victoria’s Secret executive relled Wexner dyed his hair. He hired a live- personal traer and adopted a new wardrobe. “L would wear the tightt jeans you saw. I don’t know how he didn’t cut off blood supply to his private parts,” the former executive said. Wexner’s lleagu referred to this look as “chairman’s sual.”</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-3 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p class="paywall">Acrdg to sourc, Epste took an tert Wexner’s romantic life. In 1985, <em>New York</em> magaze put Wexner on the ver wh the headle “The Bachelor Billnaire.” Wexner dated but the relatnships didn’t tend to last. Around the time Wexner met Epste, Wexner broke up wh a Columb woman. Acrdg to sourc, Epste showed up at her hoe wh a multiln-dollar check and told her to stay away om Wexner. (The woman cled requts for ment.)</p><p class="paywall">The iendship vexed Wexner’s mother, Bella. Sourc said she wanted L to settle down and get married. “Bella hated Epste. She was so blunt,” Merrt said. Around 1990, Wendy Meister troduced Wexner to a rporate lawyer her late 20s named Abigail Koppel, who worked the London office of Davis Polk, The Limed’s outsi law firm. “Abigail was so secretive about ,” a iend om London relled. “She said, ‘Don’t tell anyone. I don’t want to jx .’ ”</p><p class="paywall">But Epste stayed very much the picture. He reportedly arranged Wexner and Koppel’s prenuptial agreement and was one of 50 atten at their January 1993 weddg ceremony. Wexner even gave Epste Bella’s seat on the board of the Wexner Foundatn.</p><p class="paywall">Epste soon began travelg to Oh wh Ghislae Maxwell, the on-off girliend who had helped burnish his society nnectns Manhattan. “She was wh Jefey everywhere,” Merrt said. To some, seemed like the age-appropriate Maxwell was a public ont for Epste’s crim volvg unrage girls. “It’s a eful beard suatn,” said Oxenberg, Maxwell’s former iend. Epste and Maxwell were also social wh the Wexners outsi of Oh. When the Wexners traveled to Europe, Epste and Maxwell joed them on shoppg trips.</p></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="ev02xl"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bDFJoo"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa lnwCqV body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p class="paywall">By this pot, Epste was reprentg himself as somethg of a problem solver for Wexner. One time, Epste lled Dershowz and asked if the lawyer knew someone the Clton admistratn. Epste claimed Wexner was a panic bee ctoms agents at Teterboro Airport New Jersey seized thoands of dollars of Cuban cigars and $50,000 sh om his private jet. Dershowz said he did not know anyone who uld help. A person close to the Wexner fay wh knowledge of the allegatn emphatilly nied that any such event occurred. <em>Vany Fair</em> has found no mentn of the alleged cint urt or law enforcement rerds.</p><p class="paywall">Durg the 1990s, both Epste’s and Wexner’s profil grew on the world stage. In 1991, Wexner found a philanthropic anizatn of Jewish billnair known as the Mega Group, which some of s vast rourc to shape Middle East policy. In 2003, Wexner’s foundatn missned GOP msagg gu Frank Luntz to advise Amerin Jewish lears on how to rally support for Israel. “For a year—a SOLID YEAR—you should be vokg the name of Saddam Hse and how Israel was always behd Amerin efforts to rid the world of this thls dictator and liberate their people,” Luntz’s remendatn stated.</p><p class="paywall">Epste kept close that circle of fluence. U.N. ambassador Bill Richardson and Middle East envoy Gee Mchell allegedly participated Epste’s sex rg, acrdg to a lawsu filed by Giufe. (Richardson and Mchell adamantly ny the allegatns.) Israeli prime mister Ehud Barak was an Epste nfidant. Epste vted $1 ln one of Barak’s bs ventur; Barak reportedly vised the East 66th Street ndo buildg. Dershowz told me he once arrived at Epste’s town hoe as Epste and Barak were wrappg up lunch. On a chalkboard, Barak had drawn a map of how the Wt Bank should be divid. (Barak uld not be reached for ment. In 2019 he nied any wrongdog related to the ndo viss.)</p><p class="paywall">Durg his time as Wexner’s fancial gu, Epste’s holdgs grew tremendoly—sometim by acquirg properti formerly owned by Wexner such as the town hoe on East 71st Street, one of the largt private hom Manhattan. While has been reported over the years that the home was transferred to him a $1 transactn-—and Epste may have led people to believe that—documents show he paid Wexner $20 ln for . In Columb, Epste owned a 10,000-square-foot hoe next to Wexner and, acrdg to Merrt, paid a below-market price for one of The Limed’s private jets. (Epste also reportedly oversaw nstctn of Wexner’s superyacht, <em>Limls.</em>) Merrt relled once askg Wexner why Epste was so well pensated. “L jt said, ‘Bee I got more money than I n ever spend,’ ” said Merrt. “L gave him ee re over his checkbook.” In 2019, the <em>Wall Street Journal</em> reported Epste earned $200 ln om Wexner. Merrt puts the number at $400 ln.</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-4 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p class="paywall">Epste’s precsor Harold Lev scribed a possible scenar by which Epste uld have taken ntrol of assets. “We didn’t put a mortgage on any of those properti. We ed The Limed’s stock to buy them, so there were no liens,” Lev said. In other words, bee Wexner didn’t owe banks any money, his properti uld be ntrolled by Epste, and there would be snt public rerd of .</p><p class="has-dropp paywall">As Epste’s wealth grew, his predatory behavr beme more brazen. He sometim ed his nnectns to Victoria’s Secret his schem, a pattern at least some executiv at the pany were aware of. One afternoon the sprg of 1993, an executive shed to the office of Victoria’s Secret talog print Cynthia Fs-Fields wh disturbg news: A mol told a hairdrser at a photo shoot that a man named Jefey Epste was nng around New York prentg himself as a Victoria’s Secret sut. Fields knew Epste was problematic. Fields, then her 40s, had met him the prev year and rejected several appropriate proposns om him to go out, one of which clud a weekend date to Wexner’s hoe Aspen. (Fields cled Epste’s advanc.)</p><p class="paywall">Fields told the executive to report Epste to Wexner immediately, acrdg to a source briefed on the nversatn. “L said he would stop ,” the source relled.</p><p class="paywall">Merrt remembered one lunch around this time when Epste boasted he was the “personnel director” for Victoria’s Secret. In May 1997, an aspirg mol named Alicia Arn told the Santa Moni police that Epste sexually asslted her a hotel room after he posed as a Victoria’s Secret sut.</p><p class="paywall">Acrdg to the harrowg story of accer Maria Farmer, Epste even brought the abe to Wexner’s doorstep Oh. In the sprg of 1996, Farmer was miserable workg as Epste’s personal assistant New York when she received a dream assignment: Film producers wanted the 25-year-old to create patgs that would be featured the Jack Nicholson movie <em>As Good As It Gets.</em> Epste begged Farmer not to qu and ma an credible offer: His client L Wexner wanted Farmer to spend the summer workg on the patgs at Wexner’s 300-acre pound the town Wexner was buildg om scratch. (As reported <em>Filthy Rich,</em> Farmer spoke to a <em>Vany Fair</em> reporter 2003, but the magaze did not publish her accatns agast Epste.)</p></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="vrcgyu"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bDFJoo"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa lnwCqV body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p class="paywall">Although Farmer was broke and livg a ty Greenwich Village apartment, her stct was to turn down. Epste’s relatnship wh Wexner seemed odd to her. Farmer relled the first time Epste gave her a tour of his town hoe: “Jefey said, ‘See all this stuff? I don’t need any of . I uld live a tent. But L gave this to me for a dollar. L would do <em>anythg</em> for me.’ ”</p><p class="paywall">Farmer was also unsettled by strange visors g and gog at the hoe. She relled ernment officials makg pilgrimag to meet Epste for unexplaed reasons. What ightened her most, though, were the children. Farmer said she wnsed Maxwell rtg untls high school–age girls to meet Epste, supposedly to terview for molg jobs. “Every afternoon. Ghislae would n out sayg, ‘I need to get the nubil!’ ” Farmer relled. (Maxwell’s attorney did not rpond to a requt for ment.)</p><p class="paywall">Nohels, Farmer accepted Epste’s offer and that May, she packed her suppli to a tck and drove wt to Wexner’s Oh village. But what seemed like a dream would turn to a nightmare. This acunt is based on my terviews wh Farmer and a sworn affidav she submted feral urt 2019.</p><p class="paywall">Early her stay, Farmer began to feel like she was beg watched at all tim. Maxwell lled Farmer om New York, screamg at her bee she accintly spilled henna dye on a whe g. “Ghislae yelled, ‘You’re gog to have to leave right now!’ Jefey later lled and apologized,” Farmer relled. In terviews, Farmer said she need Abigail’s permissn to go joggg outsi bee the grounds were patrolled by armed guards and dogs. (In a 2019 statement to <em>The Washgton Post,</em> the Wexner fay said neher L nor Abigail knew who Farmer was before her accatns were ma public. “And while we don’t know wh whom Ms. Farmer may have spoken, who may have claimed to be Mrs. Wexner, was not Mrs. Wexner,” a fay spokman said at the time.)</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-5 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p class="paywall">Epste and Maxwell were Farmer’s only nnectn to the outsi world. They flew on weekends and took Farmer to see movi like <em>Inpennce Day</em> and go food shoppg at Walmart. Farmer thought Epste and Maxwell acted more like kids than adults. “They would do thgs like ‘pants’ each other while wag le to buy movie tickets,” Farmer relled. Over time, socializg wh a uple nearly twice her age felt almost normal. Farmer ved her two elementary school–age brothers to live wh her at Epste’s Oh hoe.</p><asi aria-hidn="te" class="PullQuoteEmbedWrapper-sc-EoVjf fQbAzo"><div class="PullQuoteDerativeBorr-sc-iUyOLj UnBFT"></div><div class="PullQuoteEmbedContent-sc-kTcfhx hNqtol"><p class="paywall">“L knows everythg about me. He knows every experience I’ve had,” Epste once told a iend.</p></div></asi><p class="paywall">One night about two months after she arrived Oh, Farmer said Epste and Maxwell ved her to their bedroom and sexually asslted her. Farmer said she fled, locked herself her room, and lled 911. She said the sheriff’s dispatcher rpond, “We work for Wexner.” Terrified, Farmer lled her father Kentucky. He agreed to drive overnight to pick her up. (A spokman for the Frankl County, Oh, sheriff’s office nfirmed to <em>The Washgton Post</em> that s officers had been ntracted for Wexner’s secury tail at the time but said had no remag rerds of such a ll.)</p></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="ag0cb"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bDFJoo"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa lnwCqV body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p class="paywall">Farmer said that when she returned to New York, her 16-year-old sister, Annie, whom Epste was also helpg fancially, revealed that Epste and Maxwell had touched her appropriately at Epste’s New Mexi ranch. Farmer says she tried to file a report wh the New York Police Department. Officers said they had no jurisdictn Oh and stcted her to talk to the FBI stead. Farmer said she did, but the FBI never followed up.</p><p class="has-dropp paywall">In September 1997, Wexner celebrated his 60th birthday wh a dner at his Oh tate. Meister says he ed the ocsn to once aga tell Wexner how untstworthy Epste was. “My wife and I told him and Abigail hundreds of tim to stay away om Epste,” Meister said. In ont of guts cludg former senator Joe Lieberman and real tate veloper Marshall Rose, Meister said he begged Wexner to sever ti wh Epste. “L wouldn’t listen,” Meister said. It was the last time Meister vised Wexner’s hoe.</p><p class="paywall">Meanwhile, Epste was drivg a wedge between Wexner and executiv at The Limed. Executiv didn’t unrstand why Wexner, a btal boss and famo ntrol eak, allowed Epste such latu. “L berated people. I once saw L smack an executive on top of his head,” a former Victoria’s Secret executive said. “L uld be a plete asshole,” relled another former executive. “His favore thg was to yell, ‘You have sh for bras!’ ” But wh Epste, he took a more sympathetic stance: “L would fer to him any meetg…. L would put his hand on Epste’s shoulr.”</p><p class="paywall">Epste often voked Wexner’s thory to make employe feel as if they worked for him. “Epste would ll you and wouldn’t give his name. He’d jt start talkg and expect you to know who was,” a former senr executive said. “He was beg more and more active the bs. It was really upsettg people.” In 1996, as The Limed was preparg to sp off Abercrombie & Fch to a separate pany on the New York Stock Exchange, Epste flew to Columb and told executiv that he would ci the share price. Executiv worried Epste was mtg sir tradg bee days earlier, someone—they assumed Epste—had sold an unually large chunk of Limed stock. “There was so much ncern that one of the lawyers looked around the room and said, ‘Are we gog to have to go to jail for this?’ ” relled an executive who attend the meetg. Acrdg to the executive, Epste got his way.</p><p class="paywall">The Limed’s vice chairman, Tom Hopks, told Wexner that Epste was a n man, sourc said. Wexner bshed asi the plats. “L thought he knew more than the people around him,” a former executive said.</p><p class="paywall">Merrt said begng the early ghts, Epste spent ls and ls time Oh. But publicly Wexner still had glowg thgs to say about his money manager. In 2003, Wexner told a journalist that Epste had “excellent judgment and unually high standards,” addg he was “always a most loyal iend.”</p><p class="has-dropp paywall">On the face of , the two men were vastly different temperament. Epste was flamboyant and not private at all about his sexual appet, even if most everyone was unaware of the age of his victims. Epste filled his hoe wh erotic art and displayed a py of Nabokov’s <em>Lola</em> and a book by the Marquis Sa on his sk. Wexner was a prs-shy billnaire who lerally built his own fiefdom the middle of the Amerin st belt. It’s hard to ultimately fe their algs, but I am certa that the vast sums Epste earned om Wexner were the source of his power. One of the tragic ironi of the story is that Wexner’s teenage ctomer base was ma up of the kds of girls that Epste preyed upon. Epste ed the money and legimacy his work for Wexner and others afford him to brg about unspeakable human sufferg.</p><p class="paywall">Sce Epste’s ath Augt 2019, Wexner’s profsnal life has been a tailsp. The board of L Brands—The Limed was renamed 2013—hired Davis Polk to nduct an vtigatn to Wexner’s relatnship wh Epste. The vtigatn was never ma public, but months later, Wexner stepped down as CEO, endg his n as the longt-servg chief executive the S&P 500 (he remaed chairman emer of the board).</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-6 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p class="paywall">Wexner’s problems only epened. Shareholrs sued L Brands, allegg the Davis Polk vtigatn was a whewash. L Brands retaed the law firm Wachtell, Lipton to nduct a <em>send</em> vtigatn to Wexner and Epste’s algs. This past May, Wexner stepped down om the L Brands board, endg his last official role the pany he found more than a half century ago.</p><p class="paywall">Meanwhile, Dershowz has subpoenaed Wexner to ttify as part of his famatn lawsu agast Giufe, who alleged Epste trafficked her to Dershowz. (Dershowz ni Giufe’s allegatn.) L Brands shareholrs are sug board members cludg the Wexners Delaware urt, accg “Abigail Wexner of acquicence while Epste and Ghislae Maxwell sexually asslted [Maria Farmer] the New Albany pound.” (The Wexners have cled to ment, cg pendg ligatn.) Maxwell’s sex traffickg trial is schled for the fall. (She has plead not guilty.) Wexner’s name is bound to be discsed durg ttimony.</p><p class="paywall">Those who’ve known Wexner longt have experienced a range of emotns as they’ve watched his fall. “It’s not the L I knew and know,” former Columb mayor Greg Lashutka told me. Harold Lev, the former fancial adviser who fd wh Epste, feels a small measure of vditn. “When Epste was arrted, my ex-wife lled me and said, ‘You were right,’ ” he told me. Wexner’s childhood iend Peter Halliday thought that the full extent of Epste’s trail of stctn has yet to be told. “I know the story isn’t fished,” he said. “When the whole story do e out, I jt hope L is ad.”</p><p class="paywall"><em>This story has been updated.</em></p><p class="paywall"><em>CORRECTION: An earlier versn of this story misstated the terms of Harold Lev’s divorce. His wife was not granted ctody of the children. The children were over 18 at the time.</em> </p><div role="headg" aria-level="3" class="paywall headg-h3"></div><div role="headg" aria-level="3" class="paywall headg-h3"></div><div role="headg" aria-level="3" class="paywall headg-h3"></div><div role="headg" aria-level="3" class="paywall headg-h3"><strong>More Great Stori From</strong> <em><strong>Vany Fair</strong></em> </div><p class="paywall">— The Lab-Leak Theory: Insi the <a href=" target="_blank">Fight to Unver COVID-19’s Origs</a> <br/>— <a href=" target="_blank">Ben Cmp Is Thrivg</a> Bin’s Washgton<br/>— Why It’s Not a Great Time <a href=" target="_blank">to Be Matt Gaetz</a> <br/>— AOC’s Endorsement Could Change the <a href=" target="_blank">NYC Mayor’s Race</a>—But It May Never Come <br/>— <a href=" target="_blank">Tmp Has Been Tellg People</a> He’s Gog to Be Print Aga<br/>— Is Juan Williams’s Ex From The Five <a href=" target="_blank">Thanks to a Greg Gutfeld Blood Fd?</a> <br/>— <a href=" target="_blank">Republins’ Reason Not to Want to Invtigate</a> January 6: They’re to Blame<br/>— <a href=" target="_blank">Tmp’s Inner Circle Is Scramblg</a> at the Likelihood of Crimal Charg<br/>— From the Archive: <a href=" target="_blank">“<em>60 Mut</em> Is Gog Down”</a></p><p class="paywall">— Not a subscriber? <a href=" target="_blank">Jo <em>Vany Fair</em></a> to receive full accs to and the plete onle archive now.</p></div></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 PaywallInleBarrierWhWrapperGrid-fyrGfS jyGBoi"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="body body__le-barrier article__body article__body--grid-margs"><div class="ntaer ntaer--body"><div class="ntaer--body-ner"><asi class="PaywallInleBarrierWrapper-iBnuqk lfXXa-D" data-ttid="PaywallInleBarrierWrapper"><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--paywall-le-barrier" role="prentatn" aria-live="pole" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--paywall-le-barrier"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></asi></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 ContentWrapperGrid-fvkmBv jfHKjr"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="body body__ntaer"><div class="ntaer ntaer--body"><div class="ntaer--body-ner"></div></div></div></div></div></div></article><div class="ContentFooterWrapper-jVNdRG dTJkpP ArticlePageContentFooterGrid-ccsXYy eMZRHU article-body__footer"><div class="ContentFooterContributorSpotlightWrapper-jglHff CxxEY"><sectn data-ttid="ContributorSpotlightContaer" class="ContributorSpotlightContaer-ccVxgz fwlOPD"><div class="ContributorSpotlightInnerContaer-elBox jSvXVx"><div class="ContributorSpotlightSgleColumn-idLiJU goRdaE"><sectn class="ContributorSpotlightSummaryGrid-jZdHDE hJMn"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK hvFIAc grid grid-ems-2 ContributorSpotlightMaSectnGrid-kYVLYK gpZeIC"><div class="GridItem-buujkM eHLzLy grid--em"><div class="ContributorHearWrapper-cMHleS bnIcwz"><div class="ContributorGrid-fKcSKO fnuDrA"><div class="ContributorHearContent-gJdnVA cyzBPN"><div class="ContributorDenseHearWrapper-gwHjlj GZJVT"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW jvZaPI rponsive-asset ContributorLogo-dFyyNF eiPDIw"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa ContributorLogo-dFyyNF eiPDIw rponsive-image"><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 80w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 90w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></picture></span><div class="ContributorNameAndTleWrapper-jlSeaF ifAFdg"><h1 data-ttid="ContributorHearName" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ ContributorHearName-fNrWXe iUEiRd cSfQOi clPwUE">Gabriel Sherman</h1><h2 class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ ContributorHearTle-kiBYJJ iUEiRd cSfQOi gglfXw">Special Corrponnt</h2></div></div><div data-ttid="ContributorHearB" class="ContributorHearB-etClMZ kLUMCd"><a href="/ntributor/gabriel-sherman">Gabriel Sherman</a> is a special rrponnt at <em>Vany Fair.</em> He is the thor of the <em>New York Tim</em> bt seller <em>The Loust Voice the Room,</em> which he adapted to the Goln Globe–wng Showtime seri starrg Rsell Crowe. You n follow him on <a href=" target="_blank">Twter</a>.</div><a href="/ntributor/gabriel-sherman" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM ContributorHearSeeMoreLk-iRIKOz iUEiRd bJVYxx UDwfc gkcXuI">See More By Gabriel Sherman <!-- -->»</a></div></div></div></div><div class="GridItem-buujkM eHLzLy grid--em"></div><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"></div></div></sectn></div></div></sectn></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"></div></div></div><div data-ttid="ContentFooterBottom" class="ContentFooterBottom-jwWZfC kcbyiW"><div class="ntent-bottom-anchor"></div><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--article-footer" role="prentatn" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--article-footer"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div><div data-attr-viewport-monor="" class="recirc-list-wrapper viewport-monor-anchor"><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan ContentFooterRelated-kEBiFe kVUuwq"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 SummaryCollectnGridComponent-ktyEog bdTTVU summary-llectn-grid RecircListDefltOverlaySummaryCollectnGrid-AHJhY bEaXiL recirc-list__ems summary-llectn-grid--four-lumns summary-llectn-grid--TextBelowLeft"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="SummaryCollectnGridContent-eVUpRm gOErDJ"><div class="SectnTleRoot-dBGvdq gZGsZC SummaryCollectnGridSectnTle-fCmYwG izjbVn" data-ttid="SectnTle"><hear class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ SectnTleHed-dKqZet dxqEAa ktpdQe jttyjJ">Read More</hear></div><div class="SummaryCollectnGridItems-DZShR ctWPkx hi-read-more-ad" data-ttid="SummaryCollectnGridItems"><div class="SummaryItemWrapper-iwvBff jCBznZ summary-em summary-em--has-le summary-em--ARTICLE summary-em--no-in summary-em--text-align-left summary-em--layout-placement-text-below 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siz="100vw"/><img alt="Why the Geia Indictment Agast Donald Tmp and His Alli Is the Most Sweepg Yet" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="SummaryItemContent-eiDYMl XMZX summary-em__ntent"><div class="RubricWrapper-dKmCNX hXRWeY bric bric--disvery SummaryItemRubric-dguGKN lapGFj summary-em__bric"><span class="RubricName-fVtemz cLxcNi">Polics</span></div><a class="SummaryItemHedLk-civM cxlTHI summary-em-trackg__hed-lk summary-em__hed-lk" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-hed-1" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" href=" target="_self"><div data-ttid="ClampWrapper" class="ClampWrapper-kZxfkB hTTNGO clamp SummaryItemHedBase-hiFYpQ drYWLe summary-em__hed"><div class="ClampContent-hilPkr jVhSBH"><div class="SummaryItemHedTag-TWblf gxaOcP" data-ttid="SummaryItemHed">Why the Geia Indictment Agast Donald Tmp and His Alli Is the Most Sweepg Yet</div></div></div></a><div class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ SummaryItemDek-CRfsi iUEiRd ijSOpT jDyfzW summary-em__k">If Donald Tmp is found guilty of racketeerg charg Geia, he nnot unt on gettg pardoned out of a jail sentence.</div><div class="SummaryItemByleWrapper-boCfbi cuRXdL summary-em__byle-date-in"><div class="SummaryItemBaseByle-fFbXkY gRtaxp summary-em__byle"><div class="summary-em__byle__ntent"><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH iNSiTG byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span emProp="name" class="ByleNamWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo"><span data-ttid="ByleName" class="ByleName-kwmrLn cYaBaU byle__name"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BylePreamble-iJolpQ iUEiRd bIbWCO gnILss byle__preamble">By </span>Eric Lutz</span></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="SummaryItemWrapper-iwvBff jCBznZ summary-em summary-em--has-le summary-em--ARTICLE summary-em--no-in summary-em--text-align-left summary-em--layout-placement-text-below summary-em--layout-posn-image-left summary-em--layout-proportns-50-50 summary-em--si-by-si-align-center summary-em--si-by-si-image-right-mobile-false summary-em--standard SummaryCollectnGridSummaryItem-WColm dZTLOr" role="button" tabx="0"><div class="SummaryItemAssetContaer-gwhFFH VOyg summary-em__asset-ntaer"><a class="SummaryItemImageLk-dshqxb cPpCwE summary-em__image-lk summary-em-trackg__image-lk" href=" aria-hidn="te" tabx="-1" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-image-2" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" target="_self"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg bDvSkO summary-em__image"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz hlQxkn"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg bDvSkO summary-em__image rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet="" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet="" siz="100vw"/><img alt="“Long-Term Damage”? Bob Iger, Ted Sarandos, and David Zaslav’s Bad-PR Summer" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="SummaryItemContent-eiDYMl XMZX summary-em__ntent"><div class="RubricWrapper-dKmCNX hXRWeY bric bric--disvery SummaryItemRubric-dguGKN lapGFj summary-em__bric"><span class="RubricName-fVtemz cLxcNi">Hollywood</span></div><a class="SummaryItemHedLk-civM cxlTHI summary-em-trackg__hed-lk summary-em__hed-lk" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-hed-2" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" href=" target="_self"><div data-ttid="ClampWrapper" class="ClampWrapper-kZxfkB hTTNGO clamp SummaryItemHedBase-hiFYpQ drYWLe summary-em__hed"><div class="ClampContent-hilPkr jVhSBH"><div class="SummaryItemHedTag-TWblf gxaOcP" data-ttid="SummaryItemHed">“Long-Term Damage”? Bob Iger, Ted Sarandos, and David Zaslav’s Bad-PR Summer</div></div></div></a><div class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ SummaryItemDek-CRfsi iUEiRd ijSOpT jDyfzW summary-em__k">Wh Hollywood’s wrers and actors on strike, stud boss were obv ndidat to be st as the villas. Some believe they played the role too well.</div><div class="SummaryItemByleWrapper-boCfbi cuRXdL summary-em__byle-date-in"><div class="SummaryItemBaseByle-fFbXkY gRtaxp summary-em__byle"><div class="summary-em__byle__ntent"><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH iNSiTG byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span emProp="name" class="ByleNamWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo"><span data-ttid="ByleName" class="ByleName-kwmrLn cYaBaU byle__name"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BylePreamble-iJolpQ iUEiRd bIbWCO gnILss byle__preamble">By </span>Natalie Jarvey</span></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="SummaryItemWrapper-iwvBff jCBznZ summary-em summary-em--has-le summary-em--ARTICLE summary-em--no-in summary-em--text-align-left summary-em--layout-placement-text-below summary-em--layout-posn-image-left summary-em--layout-proportns-50-50 summary-em--si-by-si-align-center summary-em--si-by-si-image-right-mobile-false summary-em--standard SummaryCollectnGridSummaryItem-WColm dZTLOr" role="button" tabx="0"><div class="SummaryItemAssetContaer-gwhFFH VOyg summary-em__asset-ntaer"><a class="SummaryItemImageLk-dshqxb cPpCwE summary-em__image-lk summary-em-trackg__image-lk" href=" aria-hidn="te" tabx="-1" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-image-3" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" target="_self"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg bDvSkO summary-em__image"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz hlQxkn"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg bDvSkO summary-em__image rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet="" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet="" siz="100vw"/><img alt="The Polil Wranglg Behd the Tragic Imag of Migrants Strand Manhattan" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="SummaryItemContent-eiDYMl XMZX summary-em__ntent"><div class="RubricWrapper-dKmCNX hXRWeY bric bric--disvery SummaryItemRubric-dguGKN lapGFj summary-em__bric"><span class="RubricName-fVtemz cLxcNi">Polics</span></div><a class="SummaryItemHedLk-civM cxlTHI summary-em-trackg__hed-lk summary-em__hed-lk" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-hed-3" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" href=" target="_self"><div data-ttid="ClampWrapper" class="ClampWrapper-kZxfkB hTTNGO clamp SummaryItemHedBase-hiFYpQ drYWLe summary-em__hed"><div class="ClampContent-hilPkr jVhSBH"><div class="SummaryItemHedTag-TWblf gxaOcP" data-ttid="SummaryItemHed">The Polil Wranglg Behd the Tragic Imag of Migrants Strand Manhattan</div></div></div></a><div class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ SummaryItemDek-CRfsi iUEiRd ijSOpT jDyfzW summary-em__k">Eric Adams is dialg up the prsure on Washgton as New York Cy scrambl to addrs an flux of migrants.</div><div class="SummaryItemByleWrapper-boCfbi cuRXdL summary-em__byle-date-in"><div class="SummaryItemBaseByle-fFbXkY gRtaxp summary-em__byle"><div class="summary-em__byle__ntent"><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH iNSiTG byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span emProp="name" class="ByleNamWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo"><span data-ttid="ByleName" class="ByleName-kwmrLn cYaBaU byle__name"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BylePreamble-iJolpQ iUEiRd bIbWCO gnILss byle__preamble">By </span>Chris Smh</span></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ SummaryCollectnGridSummaryItem-WColm dZTLOr ad ad--read-more"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--read-more" data-no-id="2qm04nt"></div></div><div class="SummaryItemWrapper-iwvBff jCBznZ summary-em summary-em--has-le summary-em--ARTICLE summary-em--no-in summary-em--text-align-left summary-em--layout-placement-text-below summary-em--layout-posn-image-left summary-em--layout-proportns-50-50 summary-em--si-by-si-align-center summary-em--si-by-si-image-right-mobile-false summary-em--standard SummaryCollectnGridSummaryItem-WColm dZTLOr" role="button" tabx="0"><div class="SummaryItemAssetContaer-gwhFFH VOyg summary-em__asset-ntaer"><a class="SummaryItemImageLk-dshqxb cPpCwE summary-em__image-lk summary-em-trackg__image-lk" href=" aria-hidn="te" tabx="-1" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-image-4" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" target="_self"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg bDvSkO summary-em__image"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz hlQxkn"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg bDvSkO summary-em__image rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet="" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet="" siz="100vw"/><img alt="Recently Indicted Mark Meadows: I Was Jt Dog What My Boss Donald Tmp Told Me" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="SummaryItemContent-eiDYMl XMZX summary-em__ntent"><div class="RubricWrapper-dKmCNX hXRWeY bric bric--disvery SummaryItemRubric-dguGKN lapGFj summary-em__bric"><span class="RubricName-fVtemz cLxcNi">Polics</span></div><a class="SummaryItemHedLk-civM cxlTHI summary-em-trackg__hed-lk summary-em__hed-lk" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-hed-4" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" href=" target="_self"><div data-ttid="ClampWrapper" class="ClampWrapper-kZxfkB hTTNGO clamp SummaryItemHedBase-hiFYpQ drYWLe summary-em__hed"><div class="ClampContent-hilPkr jVhSBH"><div class="SummaryItemHedTag-TWblf gxaOcP" data-ttid="SummaryItemHed">Recently Indicted Mark Meadows: I Was Jt Dog What My Boss Donald Tmp Told Me</div></div></div></a><div class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ SummaryItemDek-CRfsi iUEiRd ijSOpT jDyfzW summary-em__k">In a bid to punt his se to feral urt, Meadows has argued that aidg an electn terference mpaign was part of his “official duti" as Tmp's chief of staff.</div><div class="SummaryItemByleWrapper-boCfbi cuRXdL summary-em__byle-date-in"><div class="SummaryItemBaseByle-fFbXkY gRtaxp summary-em__byle"><div class="summary-em__byle__ntent"><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH iNSiTG byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span emProp="name" class="ByleNamWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo"><span data-ttid="ByleName" class="ByleName-kwmrLn cYaBaU byle__name"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BylePreamble-iJolpQ iUEiRd bIbWCO gnILss byle__preamble">By </span>Eric Lutz</span></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div 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