Billionaire next-door-neighbor is buying Playboy Mansion

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion is about to acquire a new owner — the billionaire businessman who lives next door.


Representatives of Playboy Enterprises and the billionaire Daren Metropoulos confirmed Monday that Metropoulos' bid to buy Hefner's Los Angeles "man cave" is in escrow.

Both sides declined to reveal the price until escrow closes. The home was originally listed for $200 million.

Metropoulos, who owns a private equity company that  jointly owns Hostess Brands along with Apollo Global Management, did say terms of the sale allow Playboy Magazine's 90-year-old founder to live in the mansion for the rest of his life.

After that, Metropoulos plans to merge his property with Hefner's, creating a 7.3-acre compound featuring the two stately 1920s-era mansions.

Metropoulos bought his current home from Hefner in 2009 for $18 million.

Metropoulos has been an occasional visitor to the mansion since then.