The secrets of how Hugh Hefner establish his Playboy Brand which worths Half a Billion Dollars

Hugh Hefner and his magazine Playboy single-
handedly transformed the adult entertainment
industry as the world knew it, and has since become
a multimillion dollar business endeavour that has
expanded to incorporate television, web ventures,
clubs, and more.
Read on to find out how Hugh Hefner built his half a
billion dollar empire, Playboy.
Hugh Hefner & The Creation Of Playboy
Hugh Hefner first showed his interest in publication
at an early age, founding his high school newspaper
while attending Steinmetz High School. Although he
had a high IQ of 152, Hefner was unenthusiastic
about school in general. After graduation, he served
two years in the United States Army, then went on to
attend classes at the Chicago Art Institute. After two
years at the Art Institute, Hefner attended the
University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, where he
obtained his bachelor's degree in the year 1950.
Fresh out of college, Hugh Hefner began working for
the Chicago office of Esquire magazine, which was
considered to be a rather racy publication for the
time. While at Esquire, Hefner work at entry level pay
and served as a promotional copywriter. He later
ended up leaving the company over a salary dispute.
After working at Esquire, Hefner decided that he
would like to start his own publication for men, with
similar features that Esquire offered, only "better", in
his opinion. To obtain start up costs for this business
endeavor, Hugh Hefner borrowed funds amounting to
$8,000 from forty five separate investors, one of
them being his own mother. Thus began the launch
of the famous Playboy magazine, with the first
edition actually having been produced in Hefner's
own home. This first edition made it's appearance on
Chicago newsstands in December of 1953. This rare
edition does not have a date on it, because of the
uncertainty at the time as to whether the magazine
would be successful enough to warrant the printing
of additional editions.
As a bit of a clever marketing tactic, the magazine
featured a full colored Unclad centerfold of a young
Marilyn Monroe. The magazine did well, selling over
50,000 copies, and was considered to be a success.
Since then, the popularity of Playboy has never
faltered, and the trademark Playboy logo of the
bunny wearing a bow tie, as well as the man himself,
have become legend. By the 1960′s, the
sophisticated image of Hugh Hefner smoking his pipe
while wearing a silk smoking jacket, had become
synonymous with Playboy.
As the magazine reached it's golden age in the
1960′s, the Playboy enterprise came to include
"private key" clubs, hotel resorts, modeling agencies,
feature films, books, a record company, and of
course, the iconic hostesses, the Playboy "bunnies".
By 1970, Hugh Hefner had gone from beginning an
entrepreneurial endeavor in his own home, to being
the founder of a major corporation. Circulation of the
magazine went public and copies were selling at
rates of seven million copies per month. The year
1972 earned Hefner a twelve million dollar profit.
Hugh Hefner is undoubtedly one of the most
successful men of our time. He is definitely a man
who knows how to go about obtaining success. Much
of his philosophy revolves around the idea of not
letting your life's dreams and goals slip away. Some
of his business advice includes his recommendation
of not always conforming to the pressures that life
presents, but rather to bring things to a conscious
level and to not allow society to squash your dreams
or steer you in another direction. Hefner suggests
truly taking stock of your life and then deciding what
you want to do with it. Hugh also suggests staying
focused on your goals and taking advantage of the
technology that is modernly available. For example, if
you want to begin publishing, perhaps start your own
website and take it from there.
Hugh Hefner also points out that he does not
necessarily consider himself to be a good
businessman even though he is a man who has been
very successful in business. He attributes this to
being a good entrepreneur with decent skills in the
marketing and editorial areas, who also happens to
be creative.
Hugh also admits to leaving the financial details
associated with running his corporation in the
capable hands of other people. To quote Hugh, "The
business end of business has never interested me.".
According to TMZ, this is how much money Hugh
Hefner makes per month:
Salary from Playboy: $116,667
Social Security: $1,896
Dividends and interest: $121,099
Rental property: $17,058
Income from HMH Productions: $15,808
Pensions and retirement: $413
Other miscellaneous income: $17,639
Total monthly income: $290,580
In addition, Hugh has the following assets:
$306,548 in cash
$36,802,558 in stocks and bonds (besides Playboy)
$6,122,990 in a joint account with an unnamed
person
Total assets (excluding Playboy stock and property):
$43,232,096
Here is how Hugh Hefner spends his millions of
dollars per month:
Rent (including groceries, household supplies,
utilities, cell phone and email): $53,593
Food (approximate): $18,000
Entertainment: $25,000
College expenses for kids: $10,130
Health care: $3,215
Hugh Hefner's Quotes For Success
"The interesting thing is how one guy, through living
out his own fantasies, is living out the fantasies of so
many other people." – Hugh Hefner
"If you let society and your peers define who you are,
you're the less for it." – Hugh Hefner
"Life is too short to be living somebody else's
dream." – Hugh Hefner
"I have no plans to retire. It's the perfect combination
of work and play that keeps you young. If I quit work
it would be the beginning of the end for me." – Hugh
Hefner
"There are many roads to Mecca". - Hugh Hefner
These quotes are all food for thought for anyone
thinking about pursuing a dream or achieving a
personal or business goal. Consider it good advice
coming from a man who started out as a young
college graduate, and who is now one of the most
successful business men in the world.
Although becoming the founder and owner of a
gigantic, multimillion dollar corporation or running a
hugely successful and popular gentlemen's
magazine may not be your own personal business
goal, the ideas and philosophies of Hugh Hefner as a
business man make a lot of sense for anyone trying
to find success in any type of business. He is a prime
example of how following through and staying
focused can help anyone obtain great success. He
decided what he wanted to do with his life, how he
wanted to go about doing it, and with the financial
backing of some family and close friends who
believed in his dream, brought it to fruition. Hugh
Hefner focused on his strong points in order to bring
his creative vision to life, which is something any of
us can do if we set our minds to it. Will we all be as
successful as the legendary Hugh Hefner? That is
doubtful, but not impossible, as long as you never
give up on your dream.