Cooper Hefner

Hefner was born on September 4, 1991, in Los Angeles, California to Hugh Hefner (1926-2017) and Kimberley Conrad.[1][8] He grew up in a mansion adjacent to the Playboy Mansion, which was purchased by his father after his parents separated.[9] Hefner attended Ojai Valley School before receiving a bachelor's degree from Chapman University.

Hefner started working for Playboy Enterprises, Inc. when he was in college.[10] In early 2016, Hefner, who was a board observer at the time, left the company due to disagreements with then CEO Scott Flanders about the direction the company was taking.[2] Hefner then began editing, writing and publishing op-eds, which centered on politics, culture and philosophy.[1]

In 2016 Hefner launched the media startup company Hop (Hefner Operations & Productions) focused on content and social events for millennials.[11] Hefner returned to Playboy and was named chief creative officer of the company in July 2016 when Hugh Hefner stepped down from that post.[6][1] In February 2017, Hefner announced nude images would return to the magazine stating that the problem had been the presentation of nude images rather than the nudity itself.[2] Hefner also oversaw the decision to feature Playboy's first transgender playmate in the centerfold for its November issue.[12]

As stated in Forbes, Playboy's earnings for 2017 increased by more than 39% year-over-year following Hefner’s return to the company, where he worked to develop strategic and lucrative partnerships to limit expenses at the company.[13] On January 1, 2018 the Wall Street Journal reported the controlling shareholder of Playboy Enterprises, Inc.—private-equity firm Rizvi Traverse—was considering ending the U.S. print edition of Playboy Magazine and quoted Ben Kohn, managing partner at Rizvi, as stating the magazine has lost as much as $7 million annually in recent years.[14] Hefner has been recognized on The Folio: 100 list for 2017 for his contributions to the magazine media industry as well as appearing on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for 2018.[13][15]

In January 2019, Hefner took over as the chief of global partnerships for Playboy Enterprises. In that position, he would focus on revenue and business development over content and media management.[16][17]

On April 12, 2019 Playboy Enterprises CEO Ben Kohn confirmed Hefner would exit his senior role at Playboy to launch a media brand, the Hefner Media Corporation, and a digital content platform called HefPost.[18] Later, through Instagram and Twitter accounts after having left Playboy, in July, 2019 Hefner stated his new digital content platform would be called instead StagDaily.[19][20]

In December 2019, Hefner halted plans to start a media company and digital content platform, and chose instead to enlist in the United States Air Force.[21] Hefner was previously a member of the California State Military Reserve.[22]

Hefner is a teacher at Chapman University, where he also serves on the board of governors.[23][24]

Hefner has been recognized for his activism and work with the LGBTQ+ community. In 2018, he received a British LGBT Award.[25]

In 2015, Hefner became engaged to British actress Scarlett Byrne.[8] On November 4, 2019, Hefner and Byrne announced that they had married.[26][27] On March 10, 2020, Hefner and his wife Scarlett announced they are expecting their first child.[28]

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