Net Worth Ranker
What Is Bob Guccione’s Net Worth?
Bob Guccione, the founder and publisher of Penthouse magazine, achieved a peak net worth of $400 million in 1982. This sum, when adjusted for inflation, is equivalent to approximately $1.8 billion today. He was an American businessman, publisher, photographer, and art collector.
Wealth Peak and Subsequent Financial Challenges
In 1982, Bob Guccione’s $400 million net worth placed him among the 400 wealthiest individuals in America. According to a New York Times interview from April 2002, Penthouse generated revenues between $3.5 and $4 billion over three decades, yielding nearly $500 million in profits. In 1985, Guccione faced a $45 million back-tax bill from the IRS. Guccione invested in ventures such as the Penthouse Boardwalk Hotel and Casino, and a nuclear fusion power plant. He faced personal debt, business bankruptcy and attempts to sell his New York City mansion.
Early Life and Career Beginnings
Bob Guccione was born on December 17, 1930, in Brooklyn, New York, to Nina, a housewife, and Anthony, an accountant. Guccione was raised Catholic in Bergenfield, New Jersey. As a teenager, he attended Blair Academy in Blairstown. To support his family, Guccione managed a chain of Laundromats. He later became a cartoonist for the London American, a weekly newspaper, and occasionally illustrated for Box Cards, a greeting card company.
Penthouse Magazine and Editorial Innovation
In 1965, Guccione launched Penthouse magazine in England, followed by its North American debut in 1969. This move was intended to challenge Hugh Hefner’s Playboy magazine. Unlike Hefner, Guccione initially lacked extensive resources and personally photographed many of the early Penthouse models. He also adopted a soft-focus aesthetic that became a signature of the Penthouse style. Penthouse featured more explicit sexual content, including the first US publication to display female pubic hair and exposed vulvas and anuses. In the late 1990s, the magazine introduced fetish content, such as bondage and urination. Guccione’s costly investments led to financial difficulties for Penthouse. General Media, its publisher, declared bankruptcy in 2003, prompting Guccione to step down as chairman and CEO. In 2013, FriendFinder Networks, the owner of General Media, also filed for bankruptcy, later emerging from reorganization.
Properties and Investments
As Penthouse grew, Guccione purchased a mansion on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. This residence, encompassing 30 rooms over 22,000 square feet, was the largest private residence in the area. In 2003, foreclosure proceedings were initiated by the property’s creditor. A group of investors offered $26 million in cash, allowing Bob to live in the home for $1 per year. In 2009, the property was sold to financier Philip Falcone for $49 million. Guccione also owned a mansion on a 75-acre property in Staatsburg, New York, which was sold for $4 million. Guccione invested $45 million in the construction of the Haludovo Palace Hotel on the coast of Yugoslavia. The resort opened in 1972 but went bankrupt the following year. In 1976, Guccione invested $17.5 million to finance the erotic historical film “Caligula,” starring Malcolm McDowell. Guccione’s investments in the Penthouse Boardwalk Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City resulted in a $160 million loss. He also incurred substantial losses from a never-built nuclear fusion plant.
Art Collection Sales and Personal Debt
Guccione amassed paintings by Modigliani, Picasso, El Greco, Degas, Botticelli, Matisse, Renoir, Pissarro, and Dalí. In 2002, Sotheby’s auctioned his collection for $19 million, which was $40 million less than the auction house’s prediction due to the post-9/11 depressed art market. These funds were used to address some of Guccione’s personal debts. Entrepreneur Jeremy Frommer acquired Guccione’s personal collection of art and memorabilia in 2012.
Other Ventures and Endeavors
Guccione founded the magazines “Omni,” “Viva,” and “Longevity.” He also painted. His work was showcased at the Nassau County Museum of Art and the Butler Institute of American Art.
Personal Life, Marriages, and Death
Guccione was married four times. His first marriage to Lilyann Becker produced a daughter named Tonina. He then married Muriel Hudson in 1966, and they had four children before divorcing in 1979. Guccione married Kathy Keeton in 1988, and they remained together until her death in 1997. His fourth wife was April Dawn Warren, whom he married in 2006. Guccione, a heavy smoker, underwent surgery for throat cancer in 2004. He passed away from lung cancer in 2010 at the age of 79.
