Playboy Going Away?

Hef, say it isn’t so!

As noted on the Leading Edge Gifts blog, Hugh Hefner made an offer to buy out Playboy stock and take the company private. He already owns 70% of the class A voting stock and on July 12th, he offered $5.50 for the rest. Then a few days later, the owner of Penthouse magazine joined the fray.

Not a whole lot has happened since then. The Playboy Board of Directors needs to evaluate the offers.

Given Hef’s ownership stake, it seems unlikely that Penthouse will win but the real reason we care about all of this is because one way or another, the odds are the company is going private.

What does this mean?

It means that Playboy stock will no longer be listed on the NYSE and publicly traded. It means that existing shareholders would have to turn in their stock certificates IF they wanted to get the proceeds. It means that the public, you or me, would no longer be able to own a part of Playboy.

It’s sad. I’m sad.

I for one, am not going to give up my Playboy stock certificates. I will forgo the proceeds because the collectible value of these certificates is likely to increase as the supply is cut off. Already, Playboy stock certificates are selling on ebay for $100 – and these are not even registered in your name!

At GiveAshare.com, you can buy Playboy stock and become a true owner of the company – at least until the company is taken private. The ornate stock certificate with the beautiful woman in the vignette still bears the printed signature of Hugh Hefner – all this adds to the collectible appeal.

To get an idea of the collectible value of stock certificates, check out the older, more risque version of the Playboy stock certificate used back in the 70’s that had Willy Rey, former bunny in the vignette, at scripophily.com – Price $350.

The bottom line. Get Playboy stock registered in your name while you still can. The days are numbered.

We will keep you informed on any new developments.

Update – You can no longer get Playboy stocks registered in your name, but you can buy a collectible Playboy Stock Certificate (registered in our company name) here!