There hasn’t been a Hefner in charge of Playboy since 2017, but change could be on the horizon for the adult entertainment empire.
Cooper Hefner, the youngest son of company founder Hugh Hefner (who died in 2017), has made a $100 million buyout offer for the company’s intellectual property and brand assets. Playboy Enterprises is currently a publicly traded entity, with a market cap of just $64 million—and it was roughly $10 million lower than that before Hefner’s bid.
The all-cash offer also includes a 10% equity interest in the new parent company.
“The decision to acquire Playboy’s assets stems from a personal connection and the unique potential to reinvigorate a brand cared for around the world,” Hefner told the Hollywood Reporter. “This effort is about safeguarding a legacy built over decades, ensuring that the creativity, values and cultural relevance that defined Playboy are not lost.”
Playboy has been a part of pop culture since 1953, when it made waves with its nude pictorials and high-profile interviews and reporting. After Hugh Hefner’s death, the company changed hands several times and went public three years ago. Plans were recently announced to bring back the iconic magazine in a once-per-year format. The magazine shut down in 2020, in part because of the pandemic.
Cooper, who worked at Playboy until 2019, currently heads the private-equity firm Hefner Capital.
Playboy published its first magazine in 1953, immediately capturing people’s attention with nude photos of Marilyn Monroe. At its peak, in the early 1970s, it sold more than 7 million copies in a single month.
But the rise of the Internet and competitors who did not hesitate to print much more graphic pictures took a toll on the company. Hugh Hefner sold the company to a private-equity firm in 2011 and transferred ownership of the iconic Playboy Mansion. He died with very little money to his name. His family sold their remaining shares in the company in 2018.
The company has largely survived on the power of its trademark since then, licensing the iconic bunny logo to a wide range of consumer goods.
“From a business perspective, we believe there is remarkable potential for growth; much of the road map we’ve already identified,” Hefner told THR. “With the right leadership and strategy, we aim to unlock new avenues of value and tap into consumer interest in innovative ways, including through new experiences.”