Playboy Enterprises

Playboy Enterprises, Inc. is an American privately held global media and lifestyle company founded by Hugh Hefner to oversee the Playboy magazine and related assets. It is currently headquartered in Beverly Hills, California.

Playboy Enterprises, Inc.
Playboy Enterprises International, Inc.
New Playboy, Inc.
TypePrivate
IndustryLifestyle Mass media
Pornography
Founded1953 (1953)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
FounderHugh Hefner
HeadquartersBeverly Hills, California, United States
Area served
Global
Key people
Ben Kohn, CEO
ProductsPlayboy Magazine
Playboy TV
Playboy Online
Adult entertainment  
Revenue $215 million (2010)[1]
$-36.30 million (2010)[1]
$-48.50 million (2010)[1]
Total assets $196.83 million (2010)[1]
Total equity $-22.30 million (2010)[1]
OwnerIcon Acquisition Holdings LP [2]
Number of employees
165 (2013)[3]
Websiteplayboyenterprises.com

The company is structured with two primary business segments: Media (which manages content for print, digital, social, mobile, TV and radio platforms) and Licensing (which licenses the Playboy name, Rabbit Head design and other trademarks, logos and images for use in connection with consumer goods, venues and events).[3] Today, Playboy Enterprises, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development and distribution of content, products and high-profile events that embody both “eroticism and fine art.”[4]

History

Sales of Playboy magazine peaked in 1972 at over 7 million copies.[5] By 2015 the circulation had fallen to 800,000.[6] The company now derives over 40 percent of its revenues from its media division, and about half of the revenue comes from the licensing of consumer products.[7]

The Age reported in October 2008 that, for the first-time ever, Hugh Hefner was selling tickets to his celebrity-filled parties to offset his cash-flow problems due to setbacks Playboy Enterprises had suffered, including decreasing Playboy circulation, decreasing stock value, and ventures that have yet to turn a profit.[8] Christie Hefner released a memo to employees about her efforts to streamline the company's operations, including eliminating its DVD division and laying off staff.[9]

In March 2011, founder Hugh Hefner succeeded in a bid to take Playboy private after 40 years as a publicly traded company. He partnered with private equity firm Rizvi Traverse.[10]

Playboy Enterprises closed its former headquarters in the top office floors of 680 N. Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, Illinois, in April 2012.[11] In January 2013, the company said it employed 165.[3]

In 2018, less than a year after Hugh Hefner's death, his estate sold its remaining Playboy shares of 33%, worth $35 million, to Icon Acquisition Holdings LP. The money was split between Hefner's widow and his four children.[12]

In October 2020, Playboy Enterprises’ has merged with Mountain Crest. Mountain Crest will be renamed and is scheduled to be classified on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the PLBY ticker and will be headed by Ben Kohn, Chief Executive Officer of Playboy.[13]

Divisions

Playboy also ran forty Playboy Club properties from 1960 to 1986. Playboy operated casinos in England from the mid-1960s to 1981, when they lost their operating license. Playboy also operated a casino in Nassau, Bahamas from 1978 to 1982.[14] From 1981 to 1984, the company was a partner in the Playboy Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Playboy Enterprises was denied a permanent New Jersey gaming license and was forced to sell out to its partner, which changed the name of the hotel/casino to the Atlantis Hotel and Casino. The company returned to the nightlife business with the Playboy Club at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, which opened in 2006[15] and closed in 2012.[16] Other Playboy Clubs opened in Cancun, Macau, and London in 2010 and 2011.[17] Meanwhile, the company says it will open at least three Playboy stores in each of the next three years.[18]

The company's Playboy Foundation provides grants to non-profit groups involved in fighting censorship and researching human sexuality.

Playboy Entertainment

The Playboy Entertainment Group encompasses Playboy TV and Playboy Online. Its revenue is derived from Domestic Television, International Television, Online, and other sources. Currently the Entertainment division accounts for over 60% of the revenue of the Playboy Enterprises.[19]

Playboy Online
Type of site
Magazine website, erotica
Available inEnglish
OwnerPlayboy Enterprises, Inc. (managed by MindGeek)
Created byPlayboy Enterprises, Inc.
CommercialYes
RegistrationN/A
Launched1994 (1994)
Current statusActive

Playboy Licensing

The Licensing segment licenses the Playboy name, the Rabbit Head design and other images, trademarks, and artwork to “appear on a wide range of consumer products including apparel, accessories, footwear, lingerie, jewelry, fragrances and home fashions.” Its licensed products generate “more than $1 billion in global retail sales in more than 150 countries and territories.”[20] Spirits and vapor products are among Playboy's latest licensing ventures. The spirits are made by VuQo.[21][22]

The Company's trademarks and copyrights are critical to the success and potential growth of its business as “Playboy is one of the most recognized, celebrated and popular consumer brands in the world.”[23] In 2013, Playboy ranked number 56 among the Top 150 Global Licensors by License! Global magazine.[24]

Currently the Licensing division accounts for about 50% of the revenue of Playboy Enterprises.[25]

PB Lifestyle of India

PB Lifestyle Ltd. is promoted by Mumbai-based entrepreneurs. Following their interests in media and entertainment, PB Lifestyle Ltd. has signed the master and exclusive franchise/licensee agreement with Playboy Enterprises USA (for ten years) for the use of the Playboy brand in India for various businesses.[26] PB Lifestyle representatives have also stated that the company will adapt the Playboy brand to suit India's decency standards and will not allow content/material that is deemed 'lascivious or appealing to prurient interests'.[27]

Playboy Publishing

The Publishing segment publishes Playboy magazine, its special editions and calendars, and controls the licensing of the magazine's international editions.[28] In 2005, Playboy began print editions in Argentina, Slovakia, and Ukraine bringing the number of international editions to 20.[29] As of 2007, the Publishing division accounted for nearly 30% of the revenue of the Playboy Enterprises.[30]

References
  1. "Playboy Enterprises, Inc. Reports 2009 Results". Retrieved 2010-08-05.
  2. "Hugh Hefner's Family Sells Their Remaining Shares in Playboy". Fortune. 2018-08-03. Retrieved 2019-10-26.
  3. "The New (Old) Playboy". Men's Fitness. 2013-01-24.
  4. "To Playboy magazine, sophistication is the new sexy". The Los Angeles Times. 2013-09-14.
  5. "The Girls Next Door". The New Yorker. 2006-03-20.
  6. "Hugh Hefner, Who Built Playboy Empire and Embodied It, Dies at 91". The New York Times. 2017-09-27.
  7. "Rebuilding Playboy: Less Smut, More Money". The Wall Street Journal. 2013-02-20.
  8. "Party's over for Playboy king Hugh Hefner." The Age October 18, 2008. Retrieved 30 October 2008.
  9. "Playboy Enterprises Does Restructuring; Shutting DVD Division For Online Focus; 80 Positions Will Go." Yahoo! Finance 15 October 2008. Retrieved 30 October 2008.
  10. "Playboy Enterprises, Inc. Announces Closing of Acquisition by Icon Acquisition Holdings, L.P." (Press release). 2011-03-04. Retrieved 2017-06-04.
  11. "Playboy's Move to Los Angeles Set for April 30". 2012-01-17. Archived from the original on 2012-04-17. Retrieved 2012-07-09.
  12. "Hugh Hefner's Family Sells Their Remaining Shares in Playboy". Fortune. 2018-08-03. Retrieved 2019-10-26.
  13. Visconti, Ambrogio (6 October 2020). "Playboy Enterprises' Merger With Mountain Crest". Global Legal Chronicle. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  14. Playboy Chips and Tokens - The Rise and Fall of the Bunny Chip www.ccgtcc-ccn.com
  15. Bracelin, Jason (2006-10-07). "Bunnies Are Back: Palms' Fantasy Tower takes Playboy Club concept to new heights". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  16. "Playboy Club at Las Vegas' Palms casino closes". USA Today. AP. 2012-06-04. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  17. Kee Hua Chee (2001-06-27). "Playboy Bunnies a tourist attraction". The Star. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  18. (Dead link). MSN. Archived July 16, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  20. "IMG Brands and clients". Archived from the original on 2013-09-30. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  21. "VuQo Inc. Announces Global Licensing Agreement With Playboy Enterprises". 2013-07-14.
  22. "Playboy Vapor Collection".
  23. "IMG Brand and clients". Archived from the original on 2013-09-30. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  24. "Top 150 Global Licensors". License! Global. 2013-05-03.
  25. "Rebuilding Playboy: Less Smut, More Money". The Wall Street Journal. 2013-02-20.
  26. Times, Economic (Nov 1, 2012). "Playboy Enterprises plans to open clubs, cafes and retail stores in India". The Economic Times. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
  27. UK, BBC (Nov 1, 2012). "India to get first Playboy Club in Goa". BBC news. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
  28. "Playboy Enterprises, Inc". FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2006. Retrieved April 7, 2007.
  29. "2005 Annual Report" (PDF). Playboy Enterprises, Inc. 2006-03-06. Retrieved April 7, 2007., pg 4.
  30. "Form 10-K for PLAYBOY ENTERPRISES INC". Yahoo.com. 2007-03-16. Archived from the original on March 27, 2007. Retrieved April 7, 2007.
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