The symbol of sin and immorality, number one hedonist in the world and a sex machine, that has slept with more than a couple of thousand women. On the other hand, a person fulfilling his dream, a living American dream – that’s 82 year-old founder of the Playboy group billionaire Hugh Hefner.

Los Angeles, Beverly Hills – the money smelling homestead of the rich and famous. In the midst of voluptuous topical landscape gardening eye catching castles are peeking out, Rolls Royces, Lamborghinis and Bentleys cruise on the street. I’m walking the last kilometer to Hefner’s mansion on Charing Cross Road until I stop at a slightly rusty iron gate that guards over two hectares of land with a castle building, hidden by thick high fir trees.

Suddenly a voice in a microphone appears in a bush: “Can I help you, sir?” the eye of the camera has caught a prowler behind the gates. I’m chatting to a “talking stone”, there’s a security guard on the other end of the line.

The first friend – Hefner’s girlfriend’s terrier

The gates open and, passing by a US banner, I reach a white marble tablet, depicting the goddess Aurora throwing flowers in front of a war chariot. I’m looking at a copy of a fresco by the Italian artist Guido Reni the original of which is located in Rome. 

A few steps up a hill and I’m standing in front of a fabulous gothic mansion built in 1927. There’s a blonde in scarce sports clothes walking in the yard with three dogs. That’s ¬Kendra Wilkinson, one of Hefner’s three girlfriends whom he shares his castle with.

I make a good first impression on Kendra’s tiny curious terrier called Martin – he fetches a tennis ball that I have to roll with him for quite some time.

I’m greeted by Hefner’s right hand Joe and servant Allan. The big man himself will be a while. This leaves me with at least 40 minutes to nose around the premises. There’s everyday work being carried out, nothing special really. Even none of the models are present, except for Hefner’s three girlfriends.

Dog-owner Kendra passes me with a cunning look on her face as if saying: “Ciao!” She has quite an interesting sense of humor; later on I hear her saying to Playboy’s PR manager in a friendly tone of voice: “What are you doing here, businessman? Get the fuck out of here, you motherfucker!”

Kendra’s all worked up about a new energy drink that she will soon be advertising alongside a soccer star. I get to taste the drink as well and it doesn’t taste half bad.

The large piercing doll eyes of the favorite lady

There’s a large fountain in front of the mansion around which Mexican gardeners are planting flowers. The whole surroundings is full of Mexican builders, gardeners and landscape gardeners.

A few modest Toyotas and Hondas are parked in front of the house. No luxury vehicles.  Hefner’s favorite girlfriend Holly Madison, in the middle of a conversation with a white parrot sitting on her shoulder, walks across the yard. For a moment, her big doll eyes pierce through me as well, followed by a polite smile, and she walks on without a word.

Hefner’s mansion hosts a small zoo that accommodates a number of exotic birds from peacocks and flamingos to African cranes. Over a hundred species altogether. There are also monkeys and lizards.   

The life the zoo’s inhabitants lead is worthy of a king’s cat – most of them wonder freely in the garden or Hefner’s abundant redwood forest, the largest among such under private ownership in Southern California. Flamingos that reach up to your waistline walk nosily around the guests, parrots practice their speech.  

Holly feeds the birds and animals, gives them hugs and talks to them. She sometimes takes some of the birds to the swimming pool. Occasionally, Holly bakes banana cakes for Coco, the monkey.

Somewhere in the vicinity there should be tennis courts, four giant guest rooms for the models, a boxing ring etc. The mansion also accommodates a game house with pool and poker tables that has a five dollar note with Hefner’s picture hanging on the wall. The five dollar note was given to the old man by the editor in chief at Esquire. Hefner worked for the magazine until 1952 when he left, not having received a pay increase.  

After that, Hefner established Playboy that exceeded Esquire’s success in less than a year. 

Placid Bridget and abandoned dogs 

After the tour in the garden, we head into the house. Hefner bought this 30 room mansion in 1971 for a million dollars and moved in in 1975. The mansion’s interior is dominated by oak board walls, floors in Italian marble, a lot of old fashioned furniture, amplitudes of porcelain and sexuality emphasizing wall paintings.

There’s Salvador Dalí’s abstract illustration of a young virgin and her virtue, for example.  
I get a cold coke – alcohol is not served to guests in this house – and a warning to stay in the living room and keep my nose out of the library where a photo session with the third matron of the house, Hefner’s girlfriend Bridget Marquardt, is apparently in progress. Another practice not favored by the old man is guests wondering around the house by themselves which is not allowed. 

Bridget is a placid woman in a sexy colorful dress. She extends me a friendly greeting. Her photo session has been moved outside. The lady has to sit on the lawn in front of the manor house holding a couple of cute dogs, posing for a project aimed at helping homeless dogs. 

The large living room in Hefner’s home boasts a giant fire place, an organ, chess board and cinema equipment for movie nights. The organ in this room was used to make the dramatic sound effects for the silent movie The Phantom of the Opera.

A little old man with somewhat of a hunched back wearing cherry-red pajamas shuffles past me. That’s Hugh Hefner himself.

He owns more than 200 pajamas like that in more than 20 shades of color. He fell in love with pajamas years ago having to work hard half the night which was rather uncomfortable in a dinner jacket.

The old man’s hearing is not what it used to be

Before an interview with me, the man of the house answers a few quick questions on the Playboy web site and records a commercial for PlayboyU, the bunny empire’s new social network brand.

All that is followed by a few minutes for freshening up and we find ourselves sitting at the interview desk that also fills another role as a Trik Trak board game table in a tiny library-video studio. 

I have to repeat my first sentence as the old man’s hearing is not what it used to be. A number of critics are of the opinion that Hefner’s actually a caricature of his past glory days.   

I express my regret as my small present from Estonia – a new issue of Eesti Ekspress (my newspaper) and a bottle of Vana Tallinn liqueur – was somehow lost by the airline company along wit my luggage. That’s OK, says Hefner.

He tells me he’s glad that Russia and a number of countries that were sealed by the so called iron curtain are among the first in the world to have the Playboy magazine in their own language. There aren’t that many of such countries – only 25. Estonia is among them since October, 2007.

“In those countries, people saw an international message in Playboy of personal freedom and sexual revolution,” Hefner notes.

“How many Estonians have you met?” I ask.

“I’m not sure. I don’t ask my guest where they come from, what race or religion they belong to. But it’s quite possible you’re the first Estonian I’ve ever spoken to,” says Hefner.

He’s crouching on the edge of the couch, head between his shoulders, his brown eyes glittering. He’s looking at me attentively during our discussion, glancing across the room from time to time. Hefner reaches his ear close to me when I ask a question although I add noteworthy extra volume to my voice.

Knows nothing about Estonia

“What do you actually know about Estonia?”

“Nothing, to be honest. I just know Estonia used to be part of the Eastern block, the big Russia. And now you’re free,” says Hefner. It’s great the magazine will be published in Estonian now as well, he acknowledges. Because the number of Estonians, approximately 1.4 million, is about as much as the total of US viewers of The Girls Next Door, a TV show introducing the life in the Playboy mansion.   

Hefner doesn’t know anything about Piret Aava – the blond Estonian girl who in 2001 was voted cyber girl of the week on the Playboy web site and now lives in New York.  

One of Playboy’s girls of the month, Miss July 1989 Erika Eleniak who later starred in the Baywatch TV show, also has a bit of Estonian blood – the blonde’s mother is of Estonian-German origin.  

The first Estonian woman in the magazine was Virve Reid, a read haired Estonian from Canada, who was Miss June as early as in 1977.

The old man’s ever-changing selection of subject matters keeps turning back to the success of the Playboy bunny trade mark that symbolizes sexual freedom wherever you go. “In China, for example, the Playboy magazine is prohibited, yet the trade mark is extremely popular there. “The bunny” is a political statement with a human dimension,” he boasts.   

The elderly sex revolutionary whose life seems as sweet as toffee, actively participates in Playboy’s work even today, choosing playmates, among other things. Hefner’s daily routine includes a late wake up, meeting with his private secretary, interviews and many other things. Nude photographs will not be published in the Playboy magazine without Hefner’s approval.

The old man in the company of his girlfriends and friends, spends most of his evenings watching movies, especially old films from the 1930s-1940s. This Friday night’s movie, for example, is a film based on Anthony Hope’s adventure novel The Prisoner of Zenda.

“Movies are my passion that has fundamentally shaped my life. I was raised in a Puritan family where there were no hugs and kisses. That’s why I escaped into dreams and fantasies that I found in movies,” says Hefner. 

Foreplay to sex is – domino

“You call yourself the happiest person on the planet. You have everything. What is it that still keeps you in shape, gives you a thrill?”

“No one has everything,” replies ¬Hefner. “I’m extremely lucky. A guy who fulfilled his dreams that seemed unbelievable. I’m proud to admit, I changed the world by freeing it of social and sexual taboos,” he acclaims. 

“But how important is sex to you? You’d rather play domino with the girls or take them to Disneyland as you have said?”

“Domino is foreplay for me. Sex makes the world go round. The attraction between the two sexes is the foundation of civilization. How cold and sad the world would be today if those two had never met,” Hefner smirks. “What makes my personal world go round is the romantic connection that comes with sex.”

At 82, he does “it” two-three times a week on the average. And he is one of the loudest spokespersons for Viagra. The old man is head over heels in love with blonds; he says the attraction has lasted his whole life and got started in movies.

An earlier tip from Hefner sex tricks collection is that it’s not a good idea to fall asleep during intercourse. That’s simply not polite. He also claimed that if you buy a private jet, you should definitely install a large safety belt equipped bed. 

In recent years, Hefner has reduced the number of his big busted large eyed blond girlfriends. When at his 75th birthday he had seven girlfriends, he now only has three. Three girlfriends are better than one constantly whining wife, he finds.

“When in the 1950s–1970s Playboy was revolutionary in its contents, sex is no longer a taboo subject today – all media channels are full of female bodily attractions and sex.  What is the attraction of Playboy today?” I enquire.

“The notion that sex is a taboo subject has not disappeared. At least not in America. Our government is extremely schizophrenic about sex, trying to censor it. And when Janet Jackson reveals her breast in front of a television camera, someone somewhere is fined for it,” explains Hefner and adds that the by now unstoppable “bunny” has a lot of work to do yet.

The unstoppable bunny

Hefner is trying to find examples of glorious acts by the Playboy bunny but cannot remember any names. Thus he’s unable to recall neither Britney Spears who wore a Playboy belly button ring somewhere nor Venice where he found yet another Playboy boutique during a recent visit.

“The small bunny is everywhere. And, you know, she breeds very quickly just like rabbits do,” he smiles.
Joking about his bad memory, Hefner proposes that his brain in like a messy attic where all the important things are always hidden behind all kinds of boxes.

“Mr. Hefner, no doubt, not everyone is happy with what you’re doing…” I try to curb the interviewee’s euphoria. 

“Exactly. That’s why I’m so popular. If everyone liked me, I’d be boring,” he gets even more wound up.

“Some say it’s not ethical to make money off of a woman’s body.”

“We don’t sell women. We sell pictures. That’s a big difference. Selling sexuality and female body illustrations is part of advertising and communication more generally. The playmates carry a message of sexual freedom as sex is a natural part of life,” Hefner explains.

The man with the highest morals in town

“You’re living a very hedonistic life, the key words of which are freedom and pleasure. What do things like moral and decency mean to you?”

“I consider myself a very moral and decent man. It’s possible to be married and have a family life that is everything but moral. When a senator, for example, with a wife and kids, tries to have sex with a strange woman in a bathroom somewhere.”

“Our message is a cleaner, healthier and more honest sexuality that is much more moral and decent than traditional value judgments,” says Hefner, drawing parallels with his parents’ conservative yet, due to that, deficient marriage.   

“What about changing partners in bed like socks – is that moral?”

“It can be. The problem is that what we consider moral in the case of historical sexuality is not actually moral. For a man to have a number of girlfriends one after another or even at the same time doesn’t mean that it’s immoral. What’s important is how they’re treated during their time together, whether there’s appreciation and respect,” Hefner says.

The founder of Playboy does not believe in god. The Bible for him is a story book. Hefner finds we live in a world that is incredibly varied and inspiring and what all this actually is, no one can say. Faith, he thinks, is a myth, created by people so as to find answers to their questions.

You have to party in life 

“So your life is rather guided by fait?”

“I wouldn’t say so. I think every man forges his own happiness. He cannot control everything. But he has to lead a moral life, treat people well, love them, make the world a better place. At the same time, you have to admit to yourself we’ve come to this world for a short period of time and therefore we have to value that time and be grateful for it.”

Hefner is a big party animal, organizing six big parties at the mansion every year, that attract up to a thousand key figures in the US entertainment industry. All of them walk around in their pajamas or underwear, enjoy the pleasures of the swimming pool or relax in hot tubs installed in a number of rock caves.

Almost nothing brings the carefree Hefner down. “If anything could make me worry, it’s how long my life will continue. I’m 81. The good news is, my mom lived to be 101 which  means I have good genes and hope to live for another 20 years,” he notes, optimistically.

At the same time, the old man is worried about his country’s politics and would be happy to see Hillary Clinton as the next leader in the White House. “Our country’s priorities today are idiotic and harmful. We cannot demonstrate freedom to the world through war,” Hefner casts a stone in George W. Bush’s back yard.

Cover girl through Hefner’s bed?

To end our interview, I decide to test Hefner’s restraint by telling him about ex Playboy model Jill Ann Spaulding’s shocking book. The books that landed on book store shelves some time ago tells of a sick life in the Playboy castle where the models take turns in satisfying the Viagra filled Hefner and where the precondition to becoming a playmate is intercourse with the old man.

A doctor is said to carefully monitor the mansion owner’s active sexual undertakings. 

Hefner calls Spaulding a naughty woman who was kindly allowed to stay in the mansion for a few days and then took advantage of that time in publishing a vain and lie infested book.

“What are the rules here, then – do only those that are willing to go to bed with you become playmates?”

“Definitely not!” says Hefner resolutely. “Some people have a difficult time realizing I’m one of the most moral guys around and have never used sex as a bargaining tool. We have our own rules here that allow us to relax. Who breaks these rules will be thrown out and can never return. This place is ruled by women as men have to restrain themselves,” tells Hefner.

And we’re done. The old man signs a fresh issue of the magazine, says his goodbyes and shuffles away perkily. Looking back, I realize Hefner is a good demagogue who speaks a lot but actually says little. Yet maybe this immediate communication through a simple message and a young heart is why the Americans like him as much as they do.
 

Hugh Hefner and Playboy
• Hugh Hefner was born on April 9, 1926 in a Nebraskan farmers’ family. He ran a newspaper at school and drew comic strips. He later worked for a cartoon company in Chicago and for the Esquire magazine.
• At 16, Hefner fell in love with a girl who rejected him. That and his parents’ Christian, conservative and passionless life is what Hefner has been trying to make up for ever since.
• The idea for the Playboy magazine came to Hefner at a kitchen table. His objective was to offer alternatives to the problems of the atomic bomb era. The man borrowed 8000 dollars and in 1953 published the first issue of Playboy with a circulation of 70 000 copies and the cover boasting a picture of Marilyn Monroe. The logo of the magazine represents a bunny that is to symbolize the humorous undertone of sexuality.  
• The most glorious moments of the magazine were in the 1970s when Playboy was printed in seven million copies. Today the print-run has shrunk to less than four million. The modern Playboy is not only a magazine but a multi media company, making money on publishing the magazine, the Internet, license fees as well as television. Turnover for the group listed on the New York stock exchange has in recent years, stayed around 330 million dollars.  
• Playboy is the world’s most popular life style magazine, one of the most successful publishing projects that in addition to nude photographs includes popular scientific and investigative articles, sex-related articles and interviews with celebrities. Tens of stars have posed for the magazine over the years among them, in addition to Monroe, for example Anna Nicole Smith, Pamela Anderson, Carmen Elektra, Belinda Carlisle, Eva Herzigova, Denise Richards, Mariah Carey and many others. Playboy has published interviews with A- listers such Barry White, George Clooney, Drew Barrymore, Jon Bon Jovi, Will Smith, Chris Isaac, Harrison Ford, Lenny Kravitz, Quentin Tarantino, Donald Trump, Nicole Kidman and others. Writers such as Arthur C. Clarke, Ian Fleming, Vladimir Nabokov and Margaret Atwood have published their stories in Playboy.
• When the Playboy magazine is more of a lifestyle magazine, the Playboy TV shows represent pure pornography – that’s what the contents of these cable TV shows simply is at the moment, says Hefner.
• Hefner pays good money to his chosen models. A girl of the month or a playmate receives 25 000 dollars. Playmate of the year, however, gets 140 000 dollars plus a car and a motorcycle.
• In some countries such as China, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore as well as almost all Muslim countries the Playboy magazine is prohibited.  
• Since 1988, Playboy is lead by Hefner’s eldest daughter Christie Hefner who was voted among 100 most influential women in the US in 2007. Her foremost achievement is the successful introduction of Playboy in foreign markets.
• In 2006, the company was worried about the magazine’s and the TV channel’s poor future perspectives wherefore global expansion is viewed as a matter of life and death for Playboy. Playboy boutiques have been set up in a number of locations around the world. A Playboy entertainment center was opened last year in Las Vegas, the next one will be opened in 2009 in Macau.
• Recently, Playboy services have also moved to cell phones. Hefner’s vision includes future opening of Playboy hotels and casinos, Playboy limo, airplane and yacht rentals.
• In the 1970s–1980s, Hefner took part in a number of film and television projects.  Today, he’s the start in a reality show The Girls Next Door that tells of his own castle and his three beauties.  
• Playboy has a role to play in US politics. Thus, Hefner poured oil into the fire during the Clinton-Lewinsky affair, publishing bikini photographs of Monica Lewinsky. In the 2000 presidential elections, Al Gore’s advisors advised Gore not to attend a Playboy party, fearing it might reduce the candidate’s chances.
• Hefner is a wealthy man, yet his name is not in the USA top billionaires list published by the Forbes magazine. The man himself says making money has never been his top priority. Thus he regrets taking Playboy to the stock exchange.
• Hefner purchased a cemetery plot for himself next to Marilyn Monroe’s grave in the Beverly Hills Westwood cemetery. The US TV star Jay Leno once asked: “If there’s heaven where souls go after death, where will Hefner go?”
• Hefner has four children from two marriages. He is currently planning his third marriage and another child. 

PS Even though this story is not related to innovation or IT, and one should not expect these kind of stories to be published in TigerPrises.com, it offers interesting reading. Take it as an appetizer.