Forbes is an
American publishing and
media company. Its flagship publication,
Forbes magazine, is published fortnightly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are
Fortune, which is also published fortnightly, and
Business Week. The magazine is well-known for its lists, including its lists of the richest Americans (the
Forbes 400) and its
list of billionaires. The
motto of
Forbes magazine is "The Capitalist Tool."
Company history
thumb|Forbes headquarters on 5th Avenue in Manhattan
B. C. Forbes, a financial columnist for the
Hearst papers, and his partner Walter Drey, the general manager of the
Magazine of Wall Street,
founded
Forbes magazine in 1917.
[Gorman, Robert F. (ed.) (2007) "September 15, 1917: Forbes Magazine is founded" The Twentieth Century, 1901-1940 (Volume III) Salem Press, Pasadena, California, pp.1374-1376, p. 1375, ISBN 978-1-58765-327-8] Forbes provided the money and the name and Drey provided the publishing expertise. The original name of the magazine was
Forbes: Devoted to Doers and Doings.
Drey became vice-president of the B.C. Forbes Publishing Company, while B.C. Forbes became editor-in-chief, a post he held until his death in 1954. B.C. Forbes was assisted in his later years by his two eldest sons, Bruce Charles Forbes (1916–1964) and
Malcolm Stevenson Forbes (1917–1990).
Bruce Forbes took over on his father's death, and his strengths lay in streamlining operations and developing marketing.
During his tenure, 1954-1964, the magazine's circulation nearly doubled.
Although credit for increased circulation must also be given to the magazine's increased outspokenness on the part of investors.
When Malcolm Forbes took over, he had a more hands-off approach on operations, but did provide two strategic initiatives that changed
Forbes forever. He instituted an in-house editorial staff, instead of the previous heavy reliance on
freelancers, and he started the first of the rankings articles for which
Forbes became famous.
[Gorman, Robert F. (ed.) (2007) "September 15, 1917: Forbes Magazine is founded" The Twentieth Century, 1901-1940 (Volume III) Salem Press, Pasadena, California, pp.1374-1376, p. 1376, ISBN 978-1-58765-327-8]On Malcolm's death, his eldest son
Malcolm Stevenson "Steve" Forbes Jr. (1947–) became President and Chief Executive of Forbes and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes magazine.
[ Elevation Partners press release, August 6, 2006.] Between 1961 and 1999 the magazine was edited by
James Michaels. In 1993, under Michaels,
Forbes was a finalist for the National Magazine Award. In 2006, an investment group
Elevation Partners that includes rock star
Bono bought a minority interest in the company.
A 2009
New York Times report said: "40 percent of the enterprise was sold ... for a reported $300 million, setting the value of the enterprise at $750 million. According to of AdMedia Partners, 'It’s probably not worth half of that now.'"
[ by David Carr, The New York Times, June 14, 2009 (6/15/09 on p. B1 of the NY ed.). Retrieved 6/15/09.]The popularity of Forbes magazine has extended to mainstream and Hip-Hop culture.
50 Cent has released the official remix to his hit single, "I Get Money" off his September 11, 2008 album,
Curtis, entitled Forbes 1,2,3 (also known as the "Billion Dollar Remix"). The title of the song comes from the fact that
Jay-Z, 50 Cent, and
Diddy were listed as Forbes' Top 3 money-making Kings of Hip-Hop, respectively. The unfinished video for Forbes 1,2,3 can be seen as the intro to 50 Cent's single, "I Still Kill" featuring Akon, off his multi-platinum album
Curtis. Other publications
Apart from
Forbes and its lifestyle supplement,
ForbesLife, other titles are published, including
Forbes Asia and eight local language editions. Steve Forbes and his magazine's writers offer investment advice on the weekly
Fox TV show
Forbes on Fox and on
Forbes On Radio. Other company groups include Forbes Conference Group, Forbes Investment Advisory Group and Forbes Custom Media. From the 2009
Times report: "Steve Forbes recently returned from opening up a Forbes magazine in
India, bringing the number of foreign editions to 10. In addition, this year the company began publishing
ForbesWoman, a quarterly magazine with a companion Web site."
The company formerly published
American Legacy magazine as a joint venture, although that magazine separated from Forbes as of May 14, 2007.
The company also formerly published
American Heritage and
Invention & Technology magazines. After failing to find a buyer, Forbes suspended publication of these two magazines as of May 14, 2007. Those magazines have since been purchased by the American Heritage Publishing Company, and have resumed publication as of Spring 2008 .
Forbes.com
David Churbuck founded
Forbes Web site in 1996. The site uncovered
Stephen Glass'
journalistic fraud in
The New Republic in 1998, an article that drew attention to
internet journalism. The site, like the magazine, publishes many lists focusing on billionaires and their possessions, especially expensive homes, a critical aspect of the website's apparent popularity. See a list of lists below.
Forbes.com employs the slogan "Home Page For The World's Business Leaders" and sometimes claims to be the world's most widely visited business web site. The current president and chief executive officer is James J. Spanfeller; the current editor is Paul Maidment; the current managing editor is Carl Lavin, who succeeded founding managing editor
Michael Noer and Dan Bigman.
According to Forbes.com, the Web site is among the most trusted resources for senior business executives, providing them the real-time reporting, uncompromising commentary, concise analysis, relevant tools and community they need to succeed at work, profit from investing and have fun with the rewards of winning.
Forbes.com also publishes subscription investment newsletters, a luxury-vehicles site, edited by Matthew De Paula, and a luxury travel site, , edited by G. Barry Golson, the former executive editor of
Playboy and TV Guide and former editor-in-chief of
Yahoo! Internet Life, and an online guide to web sites,
Best Of The Web.
Forbes.com is part of Forbes’ Digital, a division of Forbes Media LLC. Forbes.com and affiliated properties include:
Together these sites reach more than 27 million business people each month.
The 2009
Times report said that, while "one of the top five financial sites by traffic [throwing] off an estimated $70 million to $80 million a year in revenue, [it] never yielded the hoped-for
public offering."
ForbesAutos.com and ForbesTraveler.com
Launched in May 2005 by Forbes.com, is a web site designed specifically for luxury car buyers and enthusiasts. The editorial content is written specifically for affluent consumers, with an emphasis on objectivity, comprehensive analysis and intelligent insight.
is designed for the affluent, discerning traveler. Launched in September 2006 by Forbes.com, ForbesTraveler is dedicated to inspiring, planning and booking the world’s most distinctive travel experiences.
Lists
Forbes creates many lists under various topics, the most popular being perhaps the
list of billionaires.
Companies
- Largest Private Companies
People
In popular culture
Forbes is perhaps best-known for its many periodic lists of
net worth. As it often takes considerable detective work to determine the actual wealth of an individual,
Forbes' figures are widely cited as nearly-definitive.
- Forbes 400, a list of the richest people in the United States
- Midas List, an annual list of the top dealmakers in technology and life sciences
- The Celebrity 100, an annual list of famous and financially influential celebrities (i.e., entertainers, musicians, producers, directors, and athletes)
- Top-Earning Dead Celebrities, a list of deceased celebrities that continue their revenue from posthumous material
Fidel Castro conflict
In 2005,
Forbes listed
Fidel Castro among the world's richest people, with an estimated net worth of $550 million USD. In the 2006 article "Fortunes Of Kings, Queens And Dictators",
Forbes increased their estimate to $900 million USD. The article notes that estimating net worth for government leaders is "more art than science", and points out that in the case of Castro the authors used a discounted cash flow method for several state-owned companies, and assumed a portion of that profit stream went to Castro.
Castro responded that he has a net worth of less than $1 USD, and challenged any one to prove that he has any money in overseas accounts. Castro also stated that Forbes should place a bucket over their head.
Places
- Best Places For Business (e.g. list).
- Most Expensive Rental Markets In The U.S.
