Say it ain’t so. It looks like longstanding holding company Playboy Enterprises, Inc. which publishes the adult magazine of the same name is up for sale. Founder Hugh Hefner is 89 years old and the magazine’s subscribers are down to about 800,000. A long way from its peak circulation of 5.6 million in 1975.
In October, Playboy magazine shifted its focus to more of a digital presence and in February, published its last issue featuring fully nude pictures of women. Despite its shift in focus revenue is still down. Playboy isn’t the only media entity to see a shift in its business practices, Yahoo and Time Inc. has shuddered some of their publications and laid off staff. The ubiquitous nature of the internet and the extensive social media platforms enable easy access to content and information; and traditional forms of media are dying.
According to several reports, Playboy Enterprises which also owns the five-acre Playboy Mansion, which went up for sale for $200 million in January, could potentially fetch more than $500 million. The good news is Hef, still owns one third of the company and there is a stipulation that if the 29-room mansion is sold, Hefner would be able to live the rest of his days there.