Hugh Hefner Net Worth Before His Death: How Rich Was The Playboy Founder?

Hugh Hefner was known for being the man behind Playboy magazine – a men's magazine he founded in 1953.

He died in September 2017 at age 91. At the time of his death, he was worth an estimated $50 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth (CNW).

Hefner's fortune was derived from multiple sources of revenue within Playboy, which later boomed into an empire that included clubs and casinos.

Hefner, who earned a degree in psychology and a double minor in creative writing and art from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, built Playboy magazine in 1953 after he quit as a copywriter for Esquire magazine due to being denied a pay raise.

He took out a mortgage loan of $600 and raised $8,000–including $1,000 from his mother–from investors to launch the magazine, which he initially planned to name Stag Party.

Playboy's first issue in December 1953, which featured a nude Marilyn Monroe on its cover and centerfold, sold over 50,000 copies at 50 cents per copy. The success of the first issue, which Hefner produced in his Hyde Park Kitchen, inspired him to expand Playboy.

He hosted the television shows "Playboy's Penthouse" from 1959 to 1960 and "Playboy After Dark" from 1969 to 1970, in which he promoted a life of luxury.

He founded Playboy Enterprises, which operated the magazine and oversaw a chain of nightclubs and resorts known as the Playboy Club.

At the company's peak in the late 1960s to early 1970s, the business was reportedly generating tens of millions of dollars in profit, according to Celebrity Net Worth.

Hefner was reportedly worth over $200 million at the peak of Playboy. But in the period between 2000 and 2010, his wealth declined as magazine sales diminished.

According to a 2009 court filing cited by CNW, Hefner had a monthly income of $290,580, including a salary of $116,667 from Playboy. The filing also revealed that he had $36.8 million in stocks and bonds at the time.

Outside his business, Hefner penned a number of books, including "The Playboy Philosophy" and "Hef's Little Black Book."

At the time of his death, Hefner owned 35% of the Playboy brand and 100% of the actual magazine.

Hefner lived in the 21,000-square-foot Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles, California, until his death in 2017.

The mansion boasted 29 rooms, a wine cellar, a movie theater, three zoos, tennis and basketball courts, a waterfall and multiple pools. It became famous in the '70s for Hefner's lavish parties, which were attended by celebrities and socialites.

Playboy Enterprises sold the mansion to Daren Metropoulos, the son of billionaire businessman C. Dean Metropoulos, in 2016 for $110 million.