Topline
Shares of lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret were up as much as 18% in premarket trading Wednesday morning after the struggling brand announced it would hire Hillary Super, former CEO of Rihanna’s popular Savage x Fenty brand, as its new chief executive.
Victoria’s Secret store in Bergamo, Italy on September 4, 2023.
Key Facts
Shares of Victoria’s Secret were trading at $22.50 in pre-market on the news, which will see Super in the position effective Sept. 9 to replace Martin Waters after less than two years at the helm.
Super’s experience includes time with Anthropologie Group and American Eagle Outfitters before she served as CEO of Savage X Fenty, the successful Victoria’s Secret competitor launched by Rihanna in 2018.
Victoria’s Secret closed at $19.07 per share Tuesday, down almost 60% from its year-to-date closing high of $30.50 in February.
The company reported revenues down 3.4% year-over-year in its quarterly financials released in May.
Donna James, chair of the Victoria’s Secret Board, said in a statement that Super will aim to accelerate growth in North America.
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Key Background
Victoria’s Secret has been struggling for almost a decade after a slew of public perception missteps that included the unveiling of billionaire founder Leslie Wexner’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein, criticisms that it promoted traditional beauty standards and the canceling of the famous Victoria’s Secret fashion show after years of declining ratings. Victoria’s Secret’s market share dropped to 24% in 2018—the year Rihanna launched Savage X Fenty—down from 31.7% in 2013, CNN reported. The brand has struggled to keep up with competitors like Aerie and Fenty in the public eye, which have been praised for their use of unretouched and size-inclusive models and advertising campaigns when compared to the traditional look of the Victoria’s Secret “angel.” Victoria’s Secret re-launched its once-iconic fashion show last year in a new format that included the return of many legacy models like Adriana Lima and Candice Swanepoel, but also pulled in more diverse names like transgender DJ Honey Dijon and plus-size French singer Yseult.
Forbes Valuation
Wexner founded L Brands, the parent company to famous names like Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works, in 1963. He is ranked as the 508th richest person in the world as of Wednesday with a $6 billion estimated net worth. He bought Victoria’s Secret, which now has a market cap of $1.49 billion, for $1 million in 1982. Wexner, who was 82 at the time, said he would step down from the company he founded in 2020 with plans to sell a majority stake in Victoria’s Secret to private equity firm Sycamore Partners, but that deal fell through amid the Covid pandemic. Wexner’s resignation came as his connections to friend and financial manager Jeffrey Epstein were revealed. A three-part documentary series on Hulu called “Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons” debuted in 2022 exploring Wexner’s ties to Epstein and accusing the former of turning a bind eye to sexual harassment or assault at the company, particularly under former chief marketing officer, Ed Razek.
Further Reading
Victoria’s Secret CEO Martin Waters Exits; Hillary Super Named Successor (MarketWatch)
How Victoria’s Secret Billionaire Owner Accidentally Scored A $800 Million Stake In An AI Unicorn (Forbes)
Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show Returns Tuesday—Here’s What’s Happened In The Last 5 Years (Forbes)
Victoria’s Secret Has A Growth Plan (Forbes)
Mary Roeloffs is a Forbes reporter who covers breaking news with a frequent focus on the entertainment industry, streaming, sports news, publishing, pop culture and climate change. She joined Forbes in 2023 and lives in Dallas. She’s covered Netflix’s hottest documentaries, a surge of assaults reported on social media, the most popular books of the year and how climate change stands to impact the way we eat. Roeloffs was included on Editor & Publisher Magazine’s “ 25 Under 30” list in 2023 and worked covering local news in the greater Boston area from 2017 to 2023. She graduated with a double major in political science and journalism from Northeastern University. Follow Roeloffs for continued coverage of streaming wars, pop culture news and trending topics.
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