Hugh Hefner Net Worth: Who Was Hugh Hefner’s Benefactor After His Death?

By Mohit Kamboj On May 24, 2022

Hugh Hefner Net Worth: Hugh Marston Hefner was a magazine publisher in the United States. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of Playboy magazine.

In this article, we will explore the net worth of Hugh Hefner.

Early Life of Hugh Hefner

Hugh Hefner was born on April 9, 1926, in Chicago, Illinois. Glenn Lucius Hefner and Grace Caroline Hefner had him as their first child. They were both Nebraska natives who worked as accountants and teachers. Keith, his younger brother, is his only sibling.

Hefner went to Steinmetz High School and Sayre Elementary School. Hugh worked as a military newspaper writer for the US Army from 1944 to 1946 after graduating from high school. Hefner earned his bachelor’s degree in 1949 from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana.

In just two and a half years, he received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a double minor in Creative Writing and Art. He took one semester of graduate sociology coursework at Northwestern before dropping out.

Hugh Hefner’s Career

Hugh was born in Chicago in 1926 and worked as a US Army writer for a military newspaper from 1944 to 1946 before attending the University of Illinois to study Psychology and get a double minor in Creative Writing and Art.

He went on to work as a copywriter for Esquire but left after being denied a $5 raise in 1952. Then, to launch Playboy, he took out a $600 mortgage loan and raised $8,000 from 45 investors.

Playboy bunny Sheila Levell, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, and Playboy bunny Holly Madison perform a scene during the filming of a commercial for “X Games IX” at the Playboy Mansion in Holmby Hills, California, on May 6, 2003. The X Games will be held in STAPLES Center in Los Angeles from August 14th to 18th this year.

Marilyn Monroe was featured in the first issue, which was published in December 1953 and featured photographs from a nude calendar shot she did in 1949. It quickly became one of America’s most popular publications, selling 50,000 copies.

He was also the chief creative officer of Playboy Enterprises, the publishing company behind the magazine, and began presenting a variety of Playboy TV shows in addition to being the magazine’s creator.

He moved into his renowned Playboy Mansion in 1974 and resided there with a variety of women until his death in 2017.

Hugh Hefner’s Net Worth

Hugh Hefner had a net worth of $50 million at the time of his death in September 2017.

Hefner assessed his own net worth to be $43 million in 2009 paperwork filed as part of a divorce. Hefner’s net worth was over $200 million at the height of Playboy.

Unfortunately, the company has struggled in recent years as magazine sales have dropped dramatically. Between 2000 and 2010, the stock price of Playboy dropped by 80%. Hefner and private equity firm Icon Acquisition Holdings took the company private in 2011.

The icon was later purchased by Rizvi Traverse, a private equity group. Hefner held 35 percent of the Playboy brand and 100% of the real magazine at the time of his death.

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Hugh Hefner’s House-Playboy Mansion

Hugh lived in the 21,000-square-foot Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles, California, from 1974 until his death in 2017. His elaborate parties, which were attended by celebrities and socialites, made the estate famous in the 1970s. There are 29 rooms in the home, as well as a wine cellar, a movie theatre, three zoos, tennis and basketball courts, a waterfall, and various pools.

Surprisingly, most people believe Hugh owns the renowned Playboy mansion, although this is not the case. Hefner paid an annual fee to Playboy Enterprises to pay rent and other expenditures such as meals and parties. That rent was around $1 million in most years. Yes, that includes Hefner’s live-in girlfriends’ lodging and board as well.

Playboy Enterprises stated in January 2016 that the home was available for sale for $200 million. It’s a significant premium above a comparable house in the same neighborhood, which would be for $60–$80 million but there’s only one Playboy Mansion in the world! Daren Metropoulos purchased the property for $110 million in June 2016.

Daren, who was 32 at the time of Hefner’s death, is the son of C. Dean Metropoulos, a millionaire businessman. His father is famed for bringing drooping companies like Hostess, Bumble Bee Tuna, Pabst, and Chef Boyardee back to life. The Playboy Mansion is undergoing substantial renovations as of April 2020.

Hugh Hefner’s Personal Life

In 1949, Hefner married Mildred Williams, his high school sweetheart. Mildred admitted to Hefner before their wedding that she had an affair while he was in the Army. He has stated that the admission was heartbreaking to him.

Mildred allegedly enabled him to sleep with other women because she was ashamed of her own adultery. In 1959, the two broke up. Christie and David were their two children. He reinvented himself as a “man about town” after the divorce, in keeping with the lifestyle he advertised in Playboy.

He claimed to be involved with eleven Playmates over the course of a year. Hefner changed his lifestyle after suffering a small stroke at the age of 58 in 1985 and married Kimberley Conrad, who was 36 years his junior.

Marston and Cooper were their two sons. They divorced in 2010, after being separated for more than a decade. Crystal Harris (now Hefner) was his third wife, and they were married from 2012 until his death.

Hugh Hefner’s Death

Hugh died at his home in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, on September 27, 2017. He was 91. Sepsis, caused by an E. coli infection, was the cause of death.

Hugh Hefner is buried in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in a crypt. The crypt of Marilyn Monroe is right next to him. In 1992, he paid $75,000 for the right to be buried alongside Monroe. “Spending eternity next to Marilyn is an opportunity too good to pass up,” he told the Los Angeles Times in 2009.

It’s worth noting that Hefner never met Monroe in person. Despite the fact that he may have launched his career on her photographs against her will, the two never met.

Who Got Hugh Hefner’s Fortune?

Hugh Hefner was only married three times in his lengthy life, and when he died in September 2017, he was still married to his third wife, Crystal Hefner. He left behind four children from his first two marriages, a sizable fortune, and a tainted legacy (more on that later).

He bought Crystal a $5 million property in the Hollywood Hills in 2013, while they were still married, that is all concrete and angles. It had the appearance of a very nice prison.

He evidently intended to make sure she was taken care of when he died while they were living together in the Playboy Mansion. TMZ stated that Crystal was left $5 million and the mansion, despite reports of a prenuptial agreement leaving her with nothing. Crystal, speaking of the mansion, sold it in 2019 for a stunning $5 million.

The Playboy Mansion was sold for $100 million to Hefner’s neighbor Daren Metropoulos in August 2016, according to Fortune. According to The Daily Mail, Hefner owned 35 percent of the Playboy brand, owned the magazine, and had $36 million in stocks and bonds at the time of his death.

He also had $6 million in a joint account with an unknown individual. His estate was divided among his four children, who sold their interests for around $35 million, which Crystal split.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Old Was Hugh Hefner When He Died?

91 Years

Do You Know What Hugh Hefner Did to Dorothy Stratten?

Ex-Hefner Valet Stefan Tetenbaum Claims Hefner Raped Dorothy Stratten, 1980 Playmate of the Year, in the Mansion’s Grotto.