Roy Raymond

Early life and education Roy Raymond was born April 15, 1947, in Connecticut. He started an early business at age 13 in Fairfield that produced wedding invitations. He attended Tufts University, graduating in 1969. in Delaware. Raymond opened the first Victoria's Secret store at the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, California. Raymond was inspired to start Victoria's Secret after feeling embarrassed purchasing lingerie for his wife in a department store. To open the store, he borrowed $40,000 from a bank and $40,000 from his family. A reference to Queen Victoria, the name Victoria's Secret was meant to evoke the sophistication and propriety associated with Victorian era boudoirs while alluding to the "secret" underneath the clothes. On selecting the name Victoria for the business, Raymond stated that there were "a couple hundred names we came up with, but only that one seemed to have all the elements for the character we were trying to portray."

The company earned $500,000 in its first year and Raymond started a mail order catalog and opened three stores in San Francisco. Although Wexner was interested in purchasing Victoria's Secret, Raymond was initially wary of Wexner, who later stated "When I met him, it was as if he met the devil." In 1982, after five years of operation, Raymond sold the Victoria's Secret company for $1 million to Wexner, with its five stores and 42-page catalogue, then reported to be grossing $6 million per year.

For approximately a year after the sale to Wexner, Raymond stayed on as president of Victoria's Secret while working towards the start of his next company, an upscale store for children called My Child's Destiny. As Raymond had not incorporated the company, he was ultimately liable for the financial burden. He and his wife lost their homes (in San Francisco and Lake Tahoe) as well as their vehicles. Gaye Raymond stated that she believed he had suffered from depression following a series of business failures.