When Playboy founder Hugh Hefner died this week, a deal agreed upon during the summer of 2016 was finalized: Ownership of the famous Playboy Mansion is officially turned over to Daren Metropoulos, the wealthy 33-year-old entrepreneur best known for reinvigorating nostalgic hipster brands like Pabst Blue Ribbon and Hostess.
Metropoulos is the son of C. Dean Metropoulos, the Greece-born private-equity investor who, over the years, has bought and sold brands such as Chef Boyardee, Pabst, and Bumble Bee Tuna. He currently has a net worth of $2.4 billion according to Forbes.
During the summer of 2016, he purchased the Playboy Mansion itself for $100 million, with the stipulation that Hefner could still live there and the transaction would not be complete until he passed away. Metropoulos is now the owner of both properties, which were originally conceived together as a single 7.3-acre Holmby Hills compound designed by the architect Arthur R. Kelly and built in 1927 for the department store mogul Arthur Letts, Jr.
Metropoulos’s plan is to reconnect the estates, which were once jointly known as Wolfskill Ranch. After he purchased the house next to the Playboy Mansion, Metropoulos “embarked on a significant restoration, making substantial improvements to the property’s formal gardens and expansive grounds,” the company website explains. Presumably, the 12-bedroom, 20,000-square foot Playboy Mansion will soon be undergoing restorations and improvements as well.