Pachler will be responsible for the company’s strategic planning, corporate and business development and financial operations. He joins Playboy from Sony Pictures, where he is currently the senior vice president of strategy and operations.
He starts his new duties May 24 in Playboy's Los Angeles offices.
"We are in the process of transforming Playboy into a premier brand management company,” Playboy’s CEO Scott Flanders said. “And Christoph will accelerate our progress. We will draw on his wide range of experiences and his responsibilities will extend well beyond those of a traditional CFO."
Pachler joined Sony in 1997 as finance director. In 2002, he focused on business development and new initiatives as vice president of strategic planning. Named divisional chief financial officer/senior vice president in 2005, Pachler managed the financial aspects of Sony's international TV division.
In his current position, which he has held since 2008, Pachler has been responsible for the successful completion of numerous content and production deals and the restructuring of operations. He also serves on the board of three international entertainment companies including Lean-M, Huaso and Tuvalu Media.
"Playboy is in the midst of an exciting transformation," Pachler said. "Significant progress has been made already, but there is clearly a great deal of planning and executing ahead of us. I look forward to working with Scott and his team and to helping create the kind of value that this brand and company are capable of achieving."
Playboy's chief financial officer position has been vacant since 2009. Robert Campbell has served as interim CFO since that time. He will report to Pachler and will continue to oversee key functions of the company's financial management.
In other company news, Playboy magazine says it will publish 11 issues this year instead of the 10 it originally planned.
According to MediaWeek.com, the company will also return to a 12-times annual frequency in 2011.
The company may be on the verge of recovery after recently outsourcing business operations to American Media Inc. in order to stem deep losses.
