Editing Playboy (section)

===2000–present===
The magazine celebrated its 50th anniversary with the January 2004 issue. Celebrations were held at [[Las Vegas Valley|Las Vegas]], Los Angeles, New York, and Moscow during the year to commemorate this event. ''Playboy'' also launched limited-edition products designed by fashion houses such as [[Versace]], [[Vivienne Westwood]] and [[Sean John]]. As a homage to the magazine's 50th anniversary, [[MAC Cosmetics]] released two limited-edition products: lipstick and glitter cream.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://money.cnn.com/2003/10/15/news/companies/playboy_50/|title=Playboy: 50 years and going - Oct. 15, 2003|first=Parija |last=Bhatnagar|website=money.cnn.com|access-date=September 14, 2017}}</ref>

The printed magazine ran several annual features and ratings. One of the most popular was its annual ranking of the top "party schools" among all U.S. universities and colleges. In 2009, the magazine used five criteria—bikini, brains, campus, sex, and sports—to develop its list. The top-ranked party school by ''Playboy'' for 2009 was the [[University of Miami]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.playboy.com/articles/party-schools-2009-the-stats/index.html|title="Top Party Schools 2009," ''Playboy'' magazine, May 2009.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090509091054/http://www.playboy.com/articles/party-schools-2009-the-stats/index.html|archive-date=May 9, 2009|access-date=December 16, 2012}}</ref>

In June 2009, the magazine reduced its publication schedule to 11 yearly issues, with a combined July/August issue. On August 11, 2009, London's ''[[Daily Telegraph]]'' newspaper reported that Hugh Hefner had sold his English manor house (next door to the [[Playboy Mansion]] in Los Angeles) for $18&nbsp;m ($10&nbsp;m less than the reported asking price) to another American, Daren Metropoulos, the President and co-owner of [[Pabst Blue Ribbon]], and that due to significant losses in the company's value (down from $1 billion in 2000 to $84 million in 2009), the Playboy publishing empire was for sale for $300 million.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/recession/6007514/Hugh-Hefner-sells-LA-property-as-financial-crisis-hits-Playboy.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090814184717/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/recession/6007514/Hugh-Hefner-sells-LA-property-as-financial-crisis-hits-Playboy.html|url-status=live|archive-date=August 14, 2009|title=Hugh Hefner sells LA property as financial crisis hits Playboy | work=The Daily Telegraph | location=London | date=August 11, 2009}}</ref> In December 2009, the publication schedule was reduced to 10 issues per year, with a combined January/February issue.

On July 12, 2010, Playboy Enterprises Inc. announced Hefner's $5.50 per share offer ($122.5 million based on shares outstanding on April 30 and the closing price on July 9) to buy the portion of the company he did not already own and take the company private with the help of Rizvi Traverse Management LLC. The company derived much of its income from licensing rather than from the magazine.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jul/12/bunny-bid-hefner-offers-to-buy-rest-of-playboy/?page=all|title=Bunny bid: Hefner offers to buy rest of Playboy|last1=Vancore|first1=Andrew|last2=Heher|first2=Ashley|work=The Washington Times|agency=Associated Press|date=July 12, 2010|access-date=July 16, 2010}}</ref> On July 15, ''Penthouse'' owner FriendFinder Networks Inc. offered $210 million (the company is valued at $185 million). However, Hefner, who already owned 70 percent of voting stock, did not want to sell.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thesunnews.com/2010/07/16/1588452/penthouse-bids-for-playboy.html |title=Penthouse bids for Playboy |last=Vancore |first=Andrew |work=[[The Sun News]] |agency=Associated Press |date=July 16, 2010 |access-date=July 16, 2010 }}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=Jennica |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>  In January 2011, the publisher of ''Playboy'' magazine agreed to an offer by Hefner to take the company private for $6.15 per share, an 18 percent premium over the price of the last previous day of trading.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2011-jan-10-la-fi-playboy-20110110-story.html |work=The Los Angeles Times | title=Playboy agrees to Hefner buyout offer|access-date=December 16, 2012}}</ref> The buyout was completed in March 2011.<ref>{{cite news|title=Hefner Completes $208M Playboy Buyout|url=http://www.institutionalinvestor.com/Article/2782377/Hefner-Completes-208M-Playboy-Buyout.html|agency=Institutional Investor|date=March 8, 2011|access-date=December 16, 2012|archive-date=November 5, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105020321/http://www.institutionalinvestor.com/Article/2782377/Hefner-Completes-208M-Playboy-Buyout.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

====2016{{ndash}}2018 changes and brief ending of full-frontal nudity====
{{quote box|width=30em
| quote  = This is what I always intended ''Playboy'' Magazine to look like.
| source = — [[Hugh Hefner]], when asked about ending nudity in ''Playboy''<ref name="nonnude" />
}}

In October 2015, ''Playboy'' announced the magazine would no longer feature full-frontal nudity beginning with the March 2016 issue.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Samaiya|first1=Ravi|title=Playboy says it will no longer print images of nude women|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2015/10/12/playboy-says-will-longer-print-images-nude-women/7pxX8hCPsNNLkS9Jgh8uBP/story.html|website=Boston Globe|access-date=October 13, 2015}}</ref> Company CEO [[Scott Flanders]] acknowledged the magazine's inability to compete with freely available [[internet pornography]] and nudity; according to him, "You're now one click away from every sex act imaginable for free. And so it's just passé at this juncture".<ref name="oldnews">{{cite news|last=Somaiya |first=Ravi | url =https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/13/business/media/nudes-are-old-news-at-playboy.html |title=Nudes Are Old News at Playboy |work=The New York Times| date=October 12, 2015| access-date =October 13, 2015}}</ref> Hefner agreed with the decision.<ref name="guardian">{{cite web | url =https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/oct/13/playboy-magazine-to-stop-publishing-pictures-of-naked-women|title=Playboy magazine to stop publishing pictures of naked women |work=The Guardian|date=October 13, 2015 | access-date =October 13, 2015}}</ref> The redesigned ''Playboy'', however, would still feature a [[Playmate of the Month]] and pictures of women. Still, they would be rated as not appropriate for children under 13.<ref name="guardian"/> The move would not affect PlayboyPlus.com (which features nudity at a paid subscription).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/2015/10/13/9523879/playboy-nudity-no |title=The fascinating economics behind Playboy's decision to drop nudes from its magazine |website=Vox.com |date=October 13, 2015 |access-date=February 14, 2016}}</ref> Josh Horwitz of ''[[Quartz (publication)|Quartz]]'' argued that the motivation for the decision to remove nudity from the magazine was to give [[PB Lifestyle|Playboy Licensing]] a less inappropriate image in India and China, where the brand is a popular item on apparel and thus generates significant revenue.<ref name="quartz">{{cite web | url =http://qz.com/522672/china-not-online-porn-is-why-playboy-is-dumping-nude-photographs/|title=China—not online porn—is why Playboy is dumping nude photographs |work=Quartz|date=October 13, 2015 | access-date =October 18, 2015}}</ref>

Other changes to the magazine included ending the popular jokes section and the various cartoons that appeared throughout the magazine. The redesign eliminated the use of jump copy (articles continuing on non-consecutive pages), eliminating most of the space for cartoons.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Karlin |first1=Susan |title=The Playboy Revamp Continues: How The Magazine Is Redrawing Its Cartoon Lines, Too |url=http://www.fastcocreate.com/3057521/the-playboy-revamp-continues-how-the-magazine-is-redrawing-its-cartoon-lines-too |website=Co.Create |publisher=[[Fast Company]] |access-date=March 12, 2016 |date=March 7, 2016}}</ref> Hefner, himself a former cartoonist, reportedly resisted dropping the cartoons more than the nudity, but ultimately obliged. ''Playboy''{{'}}s plans were to market itself as a competitor to ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'', as opposed to more traditional competitors ''[[GQ]]'' and ''[[Maxim (magazine)|Maxim]]''.<ref name="nonnude">[http://www.wtae.com/money/playboy-enters-nonnude-era-sexy-but-safe-for-work/37812748 Playboy enters non-nude era: Sexy but 'safe for work'] [[WTAE-TV]], via [[CNN Money]] (February 24, 2016)</ref>

''Playboy'' announced in February 2017, however, that the dropping of nudity had been a mistake. Furthermore, for its March/April issue, it reestablished some of its franchises, including the Playboy Philosophy and Party Jokes, but dropped the subtitle "Entertainment for Men", inasmuch as gender roles have evolved. The company's chief creative officer made the announcement on [[Twitter]] with the [[hashtag]] #NakedIsNormal.<ref name="Playboy Reinstates Nudity">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38963007 |title=Playboy brings back nudity, claiming #NakedIsNormal |date=February 13, 2017 |publisher=BBC }}</ref>

In early 2018, and according to Jim Puzzanghera of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', ''Playboy'' was reportedly "considering killing the print magazine", as the publication "has lost as much as $7 million annually in recent years".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Puzzanghera|first1=Jim|title=Playboy is considering ending its print magazine, report says|url=http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-playboy-magazine-20180102-story.html|work=Los Angeles Times|date=January 2, 2018}}</ref> However, in the July/August 2018 issue a reader asked if the print magazine would discontinue, and ''Playboy'' responded that it was not going anywhere.

Following Hefner's death and his family's financial stake in the company, the magazine changed direction. In 2019, ''Playboy'' was relaunched as a quarterly publication without adverts. Topics covered included an interview with [[Tarana Burke]], a profile of [[Pete Buttigieg]], coverage of [[BDSM]], and a cover photo representing gender and sexual fluidity.<ref name="NYT Millennial" />

====Online-only====
In March 2020, Ben Kohn, CEO of Playboy Enterprises, announced that the spring 2020 issue would be the last regularly scheduled printed issue and that the magazine would publish its content online. The decision to close the print edition was attributed in part to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], which interfered with the distribution of the magazine.<ref name="gibson">{{cite web |last=Gibson |first=Kate |title=Coronavirus kills 66-year-old Playboy |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/playboy-magazine-folds-after-66-years-coronavirus/ |publisher=[[CBS News]] |access-date=2020-03-19 |date=March 19, 2020}}</ref>

==== Publicly traded ====
In autumn 2020, Playboy announced a [[reverse merger]] deal with Mountain Crest Acquisition Corp.—a [[Special-purpose acquisition company|special purpose acquisition company]] (SPAC). In February 2021, the stock of a combined company, PLBY Group, began trading on the [[Nasdaq]] exchange as "PLBY".<ref>{{cite web|last=Osman|first=Jim|title=Playboy Could Be The King of SPACs - Here Are Three Picks|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimosman/2020/10/20/playboy-could-be-the-king-of-spacs-here-are-three-picks/|access-date=2021-08-18|website=Forbes}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Jasinski|first=Nicholas|title=Playboy Has Gone Public. Here's What to Know.|url=https://www.barrons.com/articles/playboy-is-set-to-go-public-heres-what-to-know-51613003981|access-date=2021-08-18|website=www.barrons.com|language=en-US}}</ref>

In August 2024 it was announced that the magazine would relaunch in print in February 2025; it will now be published annually.<ref name="back">{{Cite web |last=Breslin |first=Susannah |title=Playboy To Bring Back Its Print Magazine With Annual Edition |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/susannahbreslin/2024/08/08/playboy-to-bring-back-its-print-magazine-with-annual-edition/ |access-date=2024-12-04 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref>