Mike Jeffries

Michael Stanton Jeffries (born ) is an American retired businessman who was chairman and CEO of clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch from 1992 to 2014. During Jeffries' tenure, he engineered a turnaround of Abercrombie & Fitch from a "fashion backwater" losing $25 million yearly to a lifestyle brand grossing $2 billion yearly by 2006, though this approach courted controversy with the advertising of semi-nude models, racially and sexually insensitive slogans, and the stance of marketing to "cool kids". In October 2024, in a separate case, Jeffries was arrested and indicted by federal prosecutors on criminal charges of sex trafficking and interstate prostitution.

Early life Jeffries grew up in Los Angeles, the son of Donald R. Jeffries, who owned a chain of party supply stores. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Claremont Men's College in 1966, and after a stint at the London School of Economics, he received a Master of Business Administration degree from Columbia University in 1968.

Career Early career In 1968, Jeffries joined the management training program at Abraham & Straus, a Brooklyn department store which was owned by the umbrella corporation Federated Department Stores, which was rebranded Macy's in 1994 after that property was acquired by Federated. He worked for 12 years at Abraham & Straus, before moving to Bullock's in Los Angeles, owned by Federated, as executive vice president for merchandising. He then worked for three years at Federated headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio.

In 1984, Jeffries founded Alcott & Andrews, a brand targeted at career women. with the New York Times noting that the store offered "too little variety in its merchandise."

Abercrombie & Fitch Co.

A&F's "Models" opening a new store in 2012. Photo demonstrates the shirtless male hunk that characterized the store's "sexualized marketing" during Jeffries 22-year reign. "The marketing approach that made A&F into a financial success also made it an HR and PR nightmare".

Jeffries ran Abercrombie & Fitch from 1992 to 2014 as CEO and chairman. During that period, he completely changed the brand, image and focus of the company. Jeffries' moves proved successful during the 1990s and early 2000s, but were not without controversy. After a string of poor results from the 2008 financial crisis onwards, as well as criticism related to the brand he created, he stepped down in 2014.

Jeffries was hired in 1992 by Les Wexner (CEO of LBrands, then named The Limited) to invigorate Abercrombie & Fitch. The company, founded in 1892, had been purchased by Limited Brands in 1988 after bankruptcy.

Jeffries was the main architect of the company's new brand. Jeffries created a cult following among young buyers. For example, he once said, "We hire good-looking people in our stores. Because good-looking people attract other good-looking people, and we want to market to cool, good-looking people. We don't market to anyone other than that." Jeffries issued a public apology on May 15, 2013, stating that "We are completely opposed to any discrimination, bullying, derogatory characterizations or other anti-social behavior based on race, gender, body type or other individual characteristics".

The "marketing approach that made A&F into a financial success also made it an HR and PR nightmare". The American Decency Association called for a boycott of A&F. Jeffries refused to lower prices or offer discounts at Abercrombie & Fitch stores during the retail recession of the 2008 financial crisis, until September 2009, after the company posted same store sales losses for 17 consecutive months. Sales recovered in 2011. , Jeffries owned about 2.9% of the company's shares, making him difficult to remove without his consent. At that time, his contract entitled him to over $100 million should he lose his job due to an ownership change. Jeffries was once one of the best-paid CEOs in retail but his compensation shrank 72 percent in 2013. His total pay was $2.24 million in the fiscal year of 2013, which ended February 1. That was down from $8.16 million in the previous year and $48.1 million before that.

In October 2012, Bloomberg News first reported on Jeffries' standards for his cabin crew on Abercrombie's Gulfstream G-V Jet, used by Jeffries, Smith and their dogs. The male models who work as stewards aboard the company jet were required to wear Abercrombie-branded polos, jeans, boxer briefs and flip-flops as part of their uniform, as well as a "spritz" of cologne. This information then came to light as a result of a lawsuit that claimed Jeffries fired his own jet pilot in order to replace him with a much younger man. Male house staff for Jeffries, paid for by the Jeffries Family Office, were provided by the same modeling firm that supplies male staff for the company jet. This was after Jim Cramer of CNBC had earlier named Jeffries to his "Wall of Shame".

Jeffries's same-sex partner, Matthew Smith, reviewed internal documents and consulted on real estate matters at Abercrombie & Fitch despite having no qualifications to perform such tasks and despite holding no official position in the company. and was likely a factor in Jeffries's decision to leave the company, according to GQ. On top of his standard pension, Jeffries received lifetime bonus payments totaling about $1m a year. Following allegations of sex trafficking in late 2023, the company stopped making the bonus payments.

In 2022, Jeffries' leadership of A&F was the subject of a Netflix documentary, White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch, which focused on Jeffries' transformation of A&F into an "avatar of exclusivity and soft-core sex appeal." The film's focus is the buildup to a 2023 class-action lawsuit against the company.

Personal life In 1971, Jeffries married Susan Hansen. who lives separately from his wife.

In October, a few weeks after the BBC report, Jeffries and others were sued in New York by a former model under a civil class action complaint of sex trafficking. The former model alleged that Jeffries and his partner Matthew Smith would search for attractive men on the Internet; provide them with money, drugs and promises of recruitment; and sexually exploit them. It was alleged that Jeffries and Smith made it explicitly clear that sexual activity was the price for attaining coveted jobs. Jeffries was released on $10 million bail with his house as collateral and must wear a GPS monitor. He pleaded not guilty at an October 25 arraignment.

On April 10, 2025, prosecutors and defense attorneys filed a motion stating Jeffries suffered from incurable dementia and that doctors had determined he had Alzheimer's disease, Lewy Body disease and the residual effects of a traumatic brain injury requiring around-the-clock care and thus was not competent to stand trial. The judge accepted this motion on May 2, 2025, stating that the defendant was "suffering from a mental disease or defect", making him "unable to understand" court proceedings and that as such Jeffries would be treated in hospital at the Federal Medical Center, Butner, for up to four months to see if he is likely to regain competency. Once a follow-up assessment is complete, the defendant could face trial or the court could decide to drop the charges against him or release him to home confinement. He was released from custody in November 2025.

On December 10, 2025, prosecutors sent a letter to the court from the warden at FMC Butner, saying that Jeffries had been re-assessed after treatment and was now fit to stand trial.