Nearly everyone, especially if you are a male over the age of 18, knows about the legacy of Playboy Magazine, one of the most iconic adult publications in history. Created by Hugh Hefner, the magazine is still in publication and titles itself the Gentlemen’s Magazine, which basically created the genre of artistic nudity and sensual expression into the mainstream media.
With his unfortunate passing back in 2017, everyone accepted that they had lost an icon of the multimedia and publishing space. But even today, his legacy carries on, and his wealth has now been divided among his children and his widow Crystal Hefner. And despite his absence from management, the company is still thriving globally.
Who Possesses The Wealth From Playboy Hugh Hefner Left Behind As Inheritance?
In the early 1950s, the United States was in for a surprise when the first issue of the now iconic Playboy Magazine was released for the public as the idea of artistic sensuality and showcase was something only dreamt about. But Hugh Hefner, the man behind the publication, had faith in what it could become in the future. Today, Playboy has become a household name in the media industry, a legacy that spans more than 70 years.
And with the estimated net worth of the publisher being almost $43 Million at the time of his unfortunate passing, he had a will that specified how his wealth would be divided. In that will, it was stated that his fortune was to be inherited by his four children, namely Christie, David, Marston, and Cooper Hefner, along with some of it going to his widow Crystal Hefner.
Since he was also a cinema aficionado, some of his vast wealth went as a donation to the USC School of Cinematic Arts along with several other organizations and charities. In a past episode of her podcast Beneath The Surface, Crystal Hefner along with her step-son Marston Hefner talked about receiving the inheritance from the OG Playboy, his son saying:
“We’re so fortunate. What he left us, the inheritance… he didn’t have to do that. And so that says something about his character too,”
This just goes to show how beneath all that glamour and attention, there was a heart of a good man in the legendary Hugh Hefner for the ones he loved and cherished.
Who Runs Playboy Today?
While Hefner may have left this world, his legacy will forever remain immortal in the memories of the older and younger generations as the Playboy brand keeps on thriving.
At present, the PLBY Group owns and operates the business and the sub-brands and properties like the Playboy Club, Honey Birdette, and Playboy Magazine. In 2020, the company made a reverse merger deal with Mountain Crest Acquisition Corp. —a special-purpose acquisition company. The very next year, the company went public and started trading on NASDAQ as ‘PLBY’.
