Family Affair

Dad and daughter at Playboy

Marrying the boss's daughter has been one route to the top in American business. Last week Christie Hefner, 29, got to the top by being the boss's daughter. Hugh Hefner, 56, founder and chairman of the board of Playboy Enterprises, Inc., announced that he was promoting his daughter to president. Said the proud papa: "Christie's promotion is a natural transition. She has certainly been well prepared for this move."

Christie, who is single, has already become familiar to Playboy readers through promotional pictures in the magazine. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Brandeis University in 1974 (major: English literature). After joining her father's company a year later, she helped develop a new series of quarterly magazines on such subjects as fashion and electronics. She also became the company's spokeswoman, and earned a reputation for candor and business savvy.

With two Hefners running Playboy, there was no more room for Derick J. Daniels, 53, who resigned as president. Daniels, a former vice president of Knight-Ridder Newspapers, was brought into the company in 1976 to straighten out its ragged management structure, a job at which most critics say he succeeded. He leaves with severance pay of $470,000.

Christie's first task will be to complete a radical transformation of Playboy Enterprises. The firm was forced to sell its highly profitable British gambling casinos, and also had to drop out of an Atlantic City hotel-casino when New Jersey authorities denied it a gambling license. Moreover, money-losing ventures, including Oui magazine and two resort-hotels, have been sold, and the firm is negotiating the sale of its book operations.

The new president says she plans to focus the company's attention once again on its 16 remaining clubs and Playboy magazine. For the future, her biggest hopes are on Playboy's entry into cable and pay TV. Says she: "I think we can begin to make a significant mark with the Playboy Channel." qed

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