Hugh Marston Hefner (born April 9, 1926), sometimes known simply as Hef, is an American magazine publisher, founder and chief creative officer of Playboy Enterprises. In 2003, Arena magazine listed him second on the "50 Most Powerful People in Porn" list.

Hefner was born in Chicago, Illinois, the elder of two sons born to Grace Caroline (née Swanson) (1895-1997) and Glenn Lucius Hefner (1896-1976). He went to Sayre Elementary School and Steinmetz High School, then served in the U.S. Army. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he majored in psychology with a double minor in creative writing and art, and earned his degree in two and a half years. He also took a semester of graduate courses at Northwestern University, with a focus in sociology and U.S. sex laws

Working as a copywriter for Esquire, he left in January 1952 after being denied a $5 raise. In 1953, he lent his furniture for $600 and raised $8,000 from 45 investors - including $1,000 from his mother ("Not because she believed in the venture," he told E! in 2006. "But because she believed in her son") - to launch Playboy, which was initially going to be called Stag Party. The undated first issue, published in December 1953, featured Marilyn Monroe from her 1949 nude calendar shoot. Hefner, who never met Monroe, owns the crypt next to hers.