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Playboy is 'hot' once more
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May 20, 1999: 10:48 a.m. ET
Founder Hefner points to the Year of the Rabbit, and the stock market agrees
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Playboy is "hot" once more, according to legendary founder and editor-in-chief Hugh Hefner, and the stock price bears him out.
Playboy Enterprises (PLA) stock is trading at more than $30, up from less than $10 five years ago.
"This is one of the most exciting times for Playboy," Hefner said, speaking to Sissel McCarthy on CNN's World Business Today.
He attributed the resurgence in the company's stock to his personal revival and higher public profile over the past 12 months, as well as the exciting opportunities afforded the group by the Internet.
"I personally am very visible, for the first time in 10 years," Hefner said, shrugging off shareholder criticism of his $850,000 compensation last year. He earned more than daughter Christie Hefner, the current chairman and chief executive.
As well as his personal profile, Hefner attributed the rising stock price to the company's image: "The Playboy bunny is recognized all over the world, and it's the Chinese Year of the Rabbit."
Changes in popular culture "made the 1980s a very difficult time for Playboy," Hefner admitted, "but we're out of that tunnel now."
The Web is an important part of the company now, and while "the magazine will always be the heart and soul of the company, it is the electronic end that is the future," Hefner said.
The magazine's circulation is holding steady around the 3.2 million mark, far from its 7 million peak, but Hefner professed himself satisfied with that level of audience. Playboy's Web businesses at www.playboy.com are not yet turning a profit, and Hefner admitted he did not know when they will make a bottom-line contribution. "You'd better ask my daughter about that."
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