Who Owns Playboy Now
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Playboy magazine, founded in 1953 by Hugh Hefner, is one of the world’s most recognizable brands and is synonymous with the Playboy lifestyle. After Hefner’s death in 2017 at the age of 91, however, the ownership of the brand and its millions in assets was placed into question.
Playboy Enterprises, Inc., the company behind the company’s many ventures, is now owned by Hugh Hefner’s son, Cooper Hefner. Cooper, 26 at the time of his father’s death, was the chief creative officer of Playboy from 2014 to 2016, and is now the chairman and creative director of the company.
In March 2019, Cooper and his brother, Marston Hefner, sold a combined 20 percent stake in the company to a group that included Icon Acquisition Holdings, LLC, an investment management firm with a history of investing in media, fashion and lifestyle brands. Icon now holds a 28.3 percent stake in the company, making it the largest single shareholder.
The Hefner family still owns 33.3 percent of the company, while a variety of other entities, including the Janklow Family Trust (7.7 percent) and Harris Kewpie Corp. (2.2 percent), also hold equity. Together, these stakeholders own approximately 71.2 percent of the company.
The remaining shares of Playboy Enterprises are publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Since returning to the NYSE in February 2019, the company’s stock has more than doubled in value.
Although Playboy’s ownership structure has changed considerably since 2018, the magazine’s legacy and mission remains intact, now under the direction of Cooper Hefner and the company’s new shareholders.