Penthouse magazine founder Bob Guccione died yesterday at the age of 79.  The AP reported that the adult entertainment magnate passed away at a hospital in Plano, Texas after a long bout with cancer.

Guccione was a native New Yorker, born in Brooklyn in 1930.  He created Penthouse in the mid-’60s, however the magazine first gained international notoriety before it was welcomed to the states.  According to Biography.com,  Penthouse debuted in 1965 in the U.K.  prior to its introduction to U.S. readers in 1969.  Penthouse would grow to rival Playboy by printing more suggestive and racier material than Hugh Hefner‘s title.

Forbes.com states that Guccione’s Penthouse empire earned nearly $4 billion over his 30 year tenure.  He was featured on the first-ever Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans with an estimated net worth of $400 million in 1982.

Some of Penthouse‘s memorable exploits under Guccione’s reign include printing nude pictures of the first ever black Miss America, Vanessa Williams, and an interview and nude photo layout of Paula Jones.

— DIANE CLEHANE

It was good to be back at my regular perch at Michael’s today after a nasty bug kept me home last week. I returned to a scene buzzing with a head-spinning mix of fashion designers, famous faces, and the requisite media moguls. Don’t these people ever take a day off? I’m guessing not.

Today I was joined by W. Randall Jones (‘Randy’ to his friends), who I got to know right here in the dining room. Randy is, without fail, always the best dressed man in the room. (He credits Martin Greenfield, the Brooklyn-based tailor to Bill Clinton and Colin Powell, for his sartorial success.) When Randy arrived looking as dashing as ever in his three-piece navy pinstriped suit, we got right down to dishing.

This is a man who knows just about everyone, which is no surprise considering he’s had a stellar 30-year career in media. He launched Worth magazine in 1992 and was the youngest publisher in magazine history when he nabbed the top spot at Esquire at the ripe old age of 29. The self-described “serial entrepreneur” also launched The American Benefactor, the first magazine about philanthropy from the donor’s perspective and released his first book, The Greatest Stock Picks of All Time, to plenty of attention in 2004.

The tastiest dish is off the record, but I can tell you his latest tome, The Richest Man in Town, has been a big success. It vaulted to the number one spot on Amazon right after Randy appeared on Wall Street Week with Maria Bartiromo. These days, he’s working on a top secret television project. We can’t wait to hear more.

Here’s the rundown on today’s crowd:

1. The ‘Imber Gang’: Dr. Gerald Imber, Jerry Della Femina, Jeff Greenfield, Andy Bergman, and Michael Kramer. A photographer from The New York Times was on hand to capture everything for an upcoming piece on the good doctor for the Style section. We’ll be looking for it.

2. Peter Brown

3. ‘Mayor’ Joe Armstrong and The Daily Beast’s Bryan Curtis who, when I asked what he did for the website replied, “Whatever Tina tells me to do.” Nice to meet you!

4. Ralph Lauren (who kept his sunglasses on throughout lunch) and Buffy Birrittella, the designer’s longtime executive vice president of women’s design and advertising. We spotted them celebrating Buffy’s birthday with champagne and nibbling on some chocolate confection while chatting with the steady stream of well wishers, like Harper’s Bazaar editor Glenda Bailey.

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