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Playboy Mansion Sold To Next-Door Neighbor
The Playboy Mansion. October 16, 2004 (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
The Playboy Mansion is off the market again, but it didn't go to any of the people who had publicly expressed interest in it.It appears that the mansion will go to 32-year-old Daren Metropoulos, a principal at the firm Metropoulos & Co., the Wall Street Journal reports. He lives next door in a house he bought from Hefner for $18 million in 2009. How much the financier intends to pay for it has not been disclosed, but the asking price had been $200 million.
As a term of the sale, Hefner will remain in the home for the duration of his life, after which Metropoulos plans to combine the two homes into a massive compound. Fun fact: Metropoulos' firm partnered with Apollo Global Management to buy Twinkies from Hostess in 2013.
A few other people had put their hat in the ring for the Mansion, or at least sarcastically expressed an interest in the property. Hustler mogul Larry Flynt said he'd give Hef $80 million for it, even though he felt it was really worth no more than $40 million. Then, nightclub owner Jeff Beacher indicated he'd like to buy the mansion and turn it into a Beacher's Madhouse, but would only give Hef $90 million.
The Playboy Mansion was built in 1927, and bought by Playboy Enterprises in 1971. It comes with a private zoo permit, which had allowed the Hefners to keep various exotic animals and birds on the grounds. Cooper Hefner, the son of Hugh and former Playmate of the Year Kimberly Conrad, gave a video tour of the grounds last year.
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