Bob Guccione

Robert Charles Joseph Edward Sabatini "Bob" Guccione (pronounced "goo-chee-OAN-eh", December 17, 1930 – October 20, 2010) was the founder of the adult magazine Penthouse in 1965. This was aimed at competing with Hugh Hefner's Playboy, but with more extreme erotic content, a special style of soft-focus photography, and in-depth reporting of government corruption scandals. By 1982 Guccione was listed in the Forbes 400 wealth list, and owned one of the biggest mansions in Manhattan. But he made some extravagant investments that failed, and the growth of free online porn in the 1990s greatly diminished his market. In 2003, Guccione’s publishers declared bankruptcy and he resigned as chairman.

Early life

Guccione was born in Brooklyn, New York of Sicilian descent, and raised Catholic in Bergenfield, New Jersey. His father, Anthony, was an accountant and his mother, Nina, was a housewife. He considered but rejected entering the priesthood. He attended high school at Blair Academy, a prep school in Blairstown, New Jersey.

Bob Guccione, Jr.

Robert Charles "Bob" Guccione, Jr. (born September 19, 1955) is the eldest son of Penthouse founder Bob Guccione. He is best known for founding music magazine Spin.

Publishing career

In 1978, after two attempts at going into the publishing business on his own, the young, London-raised Guccione went to work for Penthouse publisher General Media International, a company owned by his father, Penthouse founder Bob Guccione. By the early 1980s, at which time he was running the marketing and circulation department, he left the company (and purported position as heir apparent) to once again attempt to establish his own brand.

Launching of Spin magazine (1985)

In 1985, with a loan from his father, he launched Spin. In 1987, his father abruptly shut down the magazine after General Media experienced a financial dip. According to Guccione Jr. in an appearance on WTF with Marc Maron, these events resulted in a long lasting estrangement between the two which ended a few years prior to the elder Guccione's passing on October 20, 2010. The younger Guccione found new investors and relaunched Spin in late 1987. He managed to gather most of the magazine's old staff, and missed only one month of publication.