• Most Popular
  • Most Shared

Christie Hefner to step down as Playboy CEO

NEW YORK
Mon Dec 8, 2008 11:34am EST
Christie Hefner, chief executive officer of Playboy Industries, talks during an interview with Reuters during the Media and Advertising Summit in New York December 1, 2005. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Christie Hefner plans to step down next year as chairman and chief executive of Playboy Enterprises Inc after two decades on the job, the adult entertainment company said on Monday.

Shares of Playboy rose 14 percent in morning trading after Hefner, 56, daughter of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, said she would relinquish her role as CEO on January 31. She will stay on the company's board until a new CEO joins Playboy, which publishes one of the world's best-known adult magazines.

"Last month marked my 20th anniversary as CEO; just as this country is embracing change in the form of new leadership, I have decided that now is the time to make changes in my own life as well," Hefner said in a statement.

Like many magazine and newspaper publishers, Playboy has a brand name that is more widely known than read. Circulation has fallen as more people looking for adult entertainment and racier pictures of nude women turn to free sites online.

The company in October said it would take steps to save $12 million a year, including eliminating its DVD business.

Jerome Kern will serve as interim non-executive chairman, while the company searches for a replacement. Kern, president of Kern Consulting LLC and former CEO of On Command Corp, joined Playboy's board in 2002.

Playboy shares rose 26 cents to $2.01 on Monday, and climbed to $2.04 during the session. The stock has tumbled nearly 80 percent this year.

(Reporting by Franklin Paul; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Gunna Dickson)


More from Reuters

A Greenpeace activist dressed as one of the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" rides outside the parliament building during a brief protest in Copenhagen December 13, 2009. REUTERS/Christian Charisius

The face of climate protest

Protesters around the globe called for an end to global warming as climate talks in Copenhagen entered their sixth day.  Video 

    Climate conference
    In this photo reviewed by the U.S. Military, a guard leans on a fencepost as a Guantanamo detainee (L) jogs inside the exercise yard at Camp 5 detention center, at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, January 21, 2009. REUTERS/Brennan Linsley/Pool

    Life after Guantanamo

    Critics are worried that Gitmo prisoners once dubbed "enemy combatants" will be using prisons as pulpits for anti-American rhetoric once they're moved to U.S. soil.  Full Article 

    U.S.
    Lockheed Martin Chief Executive Robert Stevens answers a question during the Reuters Aerospace and Defense Summit in Washington December 14, 2009. REUTERS/Molly Riley

    Lockheed eyes deals

    The future demands of cybersecurity make that sector one of many the aerospace giant sees as an acquisition target in the coming year.  Full Article 

    Aerospace and Defense Summit