You Can Buy Hugh Hefner's Stuff at Auction ー and Some of It's Cheap
*By Carlo Versano*
If you've ever wanted to sleep in Hugh Hefner's silk pajamas, you're about to get your chance.
Various pairs of those pjs in a rainbow of colors ー "straight from his closet at the Playboy Mansion" ー are among the items going on the auction block in Los Angeles Friday and Saturday. Julien's Auctions, known for its sales of ephemera from high-profile stars like Michael Jackson and Frank Sinatra, is inviting the public to bid on any of the available [836 items](https://www.juliensauctions.com/exhibition-press-release?id=202) .
Martin Nolan, the executive director of Julein's Auctions, gave Cheddar an up-close look at a few of his favorite pieces. And some are priced to sell.
Bidding for Hef's famous sailor hat will start around $100, while the first key to the first Playboy Club is expected to go in the $200 to $400 range. Nolan called the items for auction "great conversation pieces" but also "tangible assets."
"Over time, it's likely they will appreciate in value," Nolan said.
Indeed, some already have. When Hefner was starting Playboy Enterprises, he famously paid $500 for previously unreleased nude photos of Marilyn Monroe, which he then used as the centerpiece of the inaugural Playboy issue in 1953. Hefner's personal copy of that issue, which originally sold on newsstands for 50 cents, is expected to fetch up to $5,000. Monroe, whose image Hefner appropriated to start his lucrative business empire, once [said](https://books.google.com/books?id=i1DVLf3y36kC&lpg=PA84&dq=%22I%20never%20even%20received%20a%20thank-you%20from%20all%20those%20who%20made%20millions%20off%20a%20nude%20Marilyn%20photograph.%20I%20even%20had%20to%20buy%20a%20copy%20of%20the%20magazine%20to%20see%20myself%20in%20it%22&pg=PA84#v=onepage&q=thank-you&f=false) she never got a thank you from Hef, and that she paid for her own copy of the issue to see her photos. Hefner, who died in 2017, bought the crypt next to Monroe's and is now interred there.
The proceeds from the auction will benefit the Hugh Hefner Foundation, his personal philanthropy that promotes issues of civil liberties and First Amendment rights.
Actors Courtney B. Vance and Tosin Cole joined Cheddar News’ senior reporter Michelle Castillo at South by Southwest to talk about their new series “61st Street” on AMC. The show takes a look at the harshness of Chicago’s criminal justice system. When asked what he hopes the audience takes away from this show, Tosin Cole said, "Just some empathy and just showing a different perspective."
A recent survey from employment website Indeed and career growth platform Luminary found that at least half of women are considering a change to their careers over issues of unequal compensation and upward mobility as compared to men. Cate Luzio founder and CEO of Luminary, and Abbey Carlton, Indeed's global head of social impact, joined Cheddar News to talk about the study and working for women to push more self-advocacy. "I think the silver lining here is that women are in a moment where they can renegotiate the terms of work. And we're seeing that in this survey, women are thinking about what is my next step and what do I need in that next step. And compensation is right at the top of the list there,” said Carlton.
A new coalition called "Organizations For Pay Equity Now", or "OPEN" imperative, has launched with the goal of eliminating the gender pay gap among pre-IPO startups by 2027. More than 200 founders, CEOs and investors have already joined the coalition -- and it's only expected to grow. Emily Sweet, Lead of the OPEN imperative, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss the new coalition and how it plans to achieve these ambitious goals.
Netflix launching a test to let primary account holders pay an extra fee for users outside their households. This comes as the streaming giant grapples with illicit password-sharing with over 30 percent of all Netflix users sharing their password with at least one person, according to research firm Magid.
Pedro Palandrani, Director of Research at GlobalX joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Ukraine's Mariupol refuses to surrender to Russian forces, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was hospitalized, and a cyclist took on the Freedom Convoy in DC. Here is all the news you Need2KNow for Monday, March 21, 2022.
Neonvest is a platform connecting startups and entrepreneurs with experts in the VC space. The startup says it's in the process of raising a seed round of approximately $2.5 million from a mix of angel and institutional investors. Aakash Shah, co-founder of NeonVest, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Amazon closed its deal to buy MGM's many content brands for $8.5 billion, and Michael Pachter, a managing director at Wedbush Securities, joined Cheddar News to discuss the e-commerce giant's second-largest acquisition to date and how he thinks it will all pay off. "To make a movie today, you just can't even think about it for less than 30 million bucks, so 4,000 movies, I mean that's several billion dollars worth of assets," he said, noting how it would also add to Amazon's little-known ad-supported IMDb TV service. "I don't know that the IMDb TV guys actually talk to the Amazon Prime Video guys, but a lot of content, it makes the value of a Prime subscription much, much greater, and people are far, far less likely to churn even if they're only buying one package every three months."
