[/caption]You could chalk this up to prurient business news, but the New York Times is reporting that Playboy magazine is vying to go private by its' founder Hugh Hefner.
Mr. Hefner’s offer of $5.50 for a Playboy share propelled the stock to rise by some forty percent; in addition, Hefner’s offer was done to purchase the rest of the Playboy stocks he does not already own.
It is must be noted that this move by the original founder of Playboy even caught the Playboy board off guard, and Wall Street analysts were puzzled as to the reason for Hefner’s offer for the rest of Playboy's stocks.
Along with urban legend surrounding the Playboy mansion, we all have heard how Hugh Hefner started Playboy with money borrowed from his aunt - but the advent of the Internet has created a challenge to the once porn magazine juggernaut.
Like Blockbuster, one of the latest businesses to suffer because of the Internet, so too is Playboy. Who is going to subscribe to a porn magazine - even one with the Playboy pedigree - when the contents it offers are free on the Internet, and with the Internet convenience also negating the inconvenience of going into an establishment to buy the magazine?
Perhaps, there are really those out there who actually subscribe to Playboy for its' articles; if they are, it bodes well for the magazine.
In an ironic twist, long time Playboy competitor, Penthouse magazine, now owned by FriendFinder Networks, was also vying for Playboy.
Hefner owns close to 70% of the stock and he has now teamed with Risvi Traverse Management, a private equity firm, to help him procure the rest of the Playboy shares out on the market.
Mr. Hefner’s daughter, Christie, who was running the magazine, was replaced by an outsider, Scott Flanders. Business analysts are speculating that Mr. Hefner is longing for the power he once had when he ran the company; and, apparently, he has confidence in the new management to raise the stock price of Playboy or to take it back to its former porn glory.
He is now 84 years of age and is apparently seeking one more time to be known, once again, as the only CEO who goes to work attired in pajamas and a robe.
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