Heirs of the Empire Playboy

Eighteen year old Marston Hefner and seventeen year old Cooper Hefner may some day take over the legacy of Playboy magazine from their father Hugh Hefner. They’ve given it some thought and it sounds like they just may have what it takes.

Hef’s boys want to bring ‘classy’ back with an edgier editorial feel. Marston believes that they could still appeal to more forward thinking people. Cooper said, “I’d want the girls to be presented more as they were in the pictorials back in the 1950s and 1960s — kind of artsy, classy. I would like to bring back that retro-class feel.”

This year Playboy has scaled back its workforce by 14 percent and plans an aggressive approach in 2009 with more cuts. Hef’s daughter Christie Hefner, 56, announced she will step down from her position as Chairman and CEO at the end of January, after spending two decades helping ‘good old dad’ run the empire.

The boys were brought up by their mother, former playmate Kimberly Conrad Hefner. The three live next door to the Playboy mansion. Sadly, Hef’s sons described him as a “hands off dad” who was too busy with his work to take on a parental role.