WESTWOOD, Calif. — The Hugh Hefner Trust has cashed in its last shares of Playboy Enterprises Inc., according to a report published by The Blast.
The $35 million deal is notable because it is the first time in the company’s history that the Hefner family has no ownership of Playboy.
The Blast said the Hugh Hefner Trust struck an agreement with Icon Acquisition Holdings LLC, which already owns Playboy shares, and was broken into two separate parts.
“In the first part, Icon agreed to pay $15 million for 800,000 shares of the company,” the report said. “The remaining 1 million shares are being put into escrow, which Playboy is paying for through a $20 million loan.
The Blast said the proceeds of the deal will then be distributed to Hefner’s children and his widow, Crystal Hefner, as well as his other beneficiaries.
One of Hefner’s sons — Cooper Hefner — continues to work at the Westwood, Calif.-based company as chief creative officer, but he will have no ownership.
Hugh Hefner founded Playboy in Chicago in 1953 and passed away in September at the Playboy Mansion in the Westwood-area’s Holmby Hills neighborhood.
