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Forbes
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The December 20, 2010, cover ofForbes,featuringWikiLeaksfounderJulian Assange
Chairman / Editor-in-chiefSteve Forbes
EditorRandall Lane[1]
CategoriesBusiness magazine
FrequencyTwice quarterly
PublisherForbes Media
Total circulation
(2020)		657,215[2]
FounderB. C. Forbes
First issueSeptember 15, 1917;106 years ago(1917-09-15)
CompanyIntegrated Whale Media Investments
CountryUnited States
Based inJersey City, New Jersey,U.S.
LanguageEnglish
Websiteforbes.com
ISSN0015-6914
OCLC6465733

Forbes(/fɔːrbz/) is an American business magazine founded byB. C. Forbesin 1917 and owned byHong Kong-based investment groupIntegrated Whale Media Investmentssince 2014.[3][4]Its chairman and editor-in-chief isSteve Forbes,and its CEO isMike Federle.[5]It is based inJersey City, New Jersey.Competitors in the national business magazine category includeFortuneandBloomberg Businessweek.[6]

Published eight times a year,Forbesfeatures articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. It also reports on related subjects such as technology, communications, science, politics, and law. It has an international edition in Asia as well as editions produced under license in 27 countries and regions worldwide. The magazine is known for its lists and rankings, including of the richest Americans (theForbes 400), lists of 30 notable young people under the age of 30 (Forbes 30 under 30), America's Wealthiest Celebrities, the world's top companies (theForbes Global 2000),Forbes list of the World's Most Powerful People,andThe World's Billionaires.[7]The motto ofForbesmagazine is "Change the World".[8]

Company history[edit]

Forbes Building onFifth Avenuein New York City, the former headquarters of Forbes in Manhattan (now owned by New York University)
Forbes Media headquarters at 499 Washington Blvd, Jersey City since 2014
Forbes Media headquarters at 499 Washington Blvd, Jersey City since 2014

B. C. Forbes,a financial columnist for theHearstpapers, and his partner Walter Drey, the general manager of theMagazine of Wall Street,[9]foundedForbesmagazine on September 15, 1917.[10][11]Forbes provided the money and the name and Drey provided the publishing expertise. The original name of the magazine wasForbes: Devoted to Doers and Doings.[9]Drey became vice-president of the B.C. Forbes Publishing Company,[12]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) andMalcolm Forbes(1917–1990).

Bruce Forbes took over after his father's death, and his strengths lay in streamlining operations and developing marketing.[10]During his tenure, 1954–1964, the magazine's circulation nearly doubled.[10]

On Bruce's death, his brotherMalcolm Forbesbecame president and chief executive officer of Forbes, and editor-in-chief ofForbesmagazine.[13]Between 1961 and 1999 the magazine was edited byJames Michaels.[14]In 1993, under Michaels,Forbeswas a finalist for theNational Magazine Award.[15]In 2006, an investment groupElevation Partnersthat includes rock starBonobought a minority interest in the company with a reorganization, through a new company, Forbes Media LLC, in which Forbes Magazine and Forbes.com, along with other media properties, is now a part.[13][16]A 2009New York Timesreport said: "40 percent of the enterprise was sold... for a reported $300 million, setting the value of the enterprise at $750 million." Three years later, Mark M. Edmiston of AdMedia Partners observed, "It's probably not worth half of that now."[17]It was later revealed that the price had been US$264 million.[18]

Sale of headquarters[edit]

In January 2010,Forbesreached an agreement to sell its headquarters building onFifth AvenueinManhattantoNew York University;terms of the deal were not publicly reported, but Forbes was to continue to occupy the space under a five-yearsale-leasebackarrangement.[19]The company's headquarters moved to theNewportsection ofdowntown Jersey City,New Jersey, in 2014.[20][21]

Sale to Integrated Whale Media (51% stake)[edit]

In November 2013, Forbes Media, which publishesForbesmagazine, was put up for sale.[22]This was encouraged by minority shareholdersElevation Partners.Sale documents prepared byDeutsche Bankrevealed that the publisher's 2012earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortizationwas US$15 million.[23]Forbesreportedly sought a price of US$400 million.[23]In July 2014, theForbes familybought out Elevation and then Hong Kong-based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments purchased a 51 percent majority of the company.[3][4][18]

In 2017, Isaac Stone Fish, a senior fellow of theAsia Society,wrote inThe Washington Postthat "Since that purchase, there have been several instances of editorial meddling on stories involving China that raise questions about Forbes magazine's commitment to editorial independence."[24]

Failed SPAC merger and sale[edit]

On August 26, 2021, Forbes announced their plans to go public via a merger with aspecial-purpose acquisition companycalled Magnum Opus Acquisition, and starting to trade at the New York Stock Exchange as FRBS.[25]In February 2022, it was announced thatCryptocurrency exchangeBinancewould acquire a $200 million stake in Forbes as a result of the SPAC flotation.[26][27]In June 2022, the company terminated its SPAC merger citing unfavorable market conditions.[28]

In August 2022, the company announced that it was exploring a sale of its business.[29]In May 2023, it was announced that billionaireAustin Russell,founder ofLuminar Technologies,agreed to acquire an 82percent stake in a deal valuing the company at $800million.[30]His majority ownership was to include the remaining portion of the company owned by Forbes family which was not previously sold to Integrated Whale Media.[31][32]The transaction attracted scrutiny by theCommittee on Foreign Investment in the United States.Russell denied reports that Russian businessmanMagomed Musaevwas involved in the transaction.[30]In November 2023, the deal collapsed, as Russell was unable to put together the necessary funds.[33]

Other publications[edit]

Apart fromForbesand its lifestyle supplement,Forbes Life,other titles includeForbes Asiaand 45 local language editions,[34]including:

  • Forbes Africa
  • Forbes África Lusófona
  • Forbes Afrique
  • Forbes Argentina
  • Forbes Australia
  • Forbes Austria
  • Forbes Baltics
  • Forbes Brazil
  • Forbes Bulgaria
  • Forbes Central America
  • Forbes Colombia
  • Forbes Chile
  • Forbes China
  • Forbes Czech
  • Forbes Dominican Republic
  • Forbes Ecuador
  • Forbes En Español
  • Forbes Estonia
  • Forbes France
  • Forbes Georgia
  • Forbes Greece
  • Forbes Hungary
  • Forbes India
  • Forbes Indonesia
  • Forbes Israel
  • Forbes Italy
  • Forbes Japan
  • Forbes Kazakhstan
  • Forbes Korea
  • Forbes Latvia
  • Forbes Lithuania
  • Forbes Mexico
  • Forbes Middle East
  • Forbes Monaco
  • Forbes Perú
  • Forbes Poland
  • Forbes Portugal
  • Forbes Romania
  • Forbes Russia
  • Forbes Serbia
  • Forbes Slovakia
  • Forbes Spain
  • Forbes Thailand
  • Forbes Ukraine
  • Forbes Uruguay
  • Forbes Vietnam

Steve Forbes and his magazine's writers offer investment advice on the weeklyFoxTV showForbes on Foxand onForbes on Radio.Other company groups include Forbes Conference Group, Forbes Investment Advisory Group and Forbes Custom Media. From the 2009Timesreport: "Steve Forbes recently returned from opening up aForbesmagazine in India,bringing the number of foreign editions to 10. "In addition, that year the company began publishingForbesWoman,a quarterly magazine published by Steve Forbes's daughter,Moira Forbes,with a companion Web site.[17]

The company formerly publishedAmerican Legacymagazine as a joint venture, although that magazine separated from Forbes on May 14, 2007.[35]

The company also formerly publishedAmerican HeritageandInvention & Technologymagazines. After failing to find a buyer, Forbes suspended publication of these two magazines as of May 17, 2007.[36]Both magazines were purchased by the American Heritage Publishing Company and resumed publication as of the spring of 2008.[37]

Forbes has published theForbes Travel Guidesince 2009.

In 2013, Forbes licensed its brand toAshford University,and assisted them to launch theForbes School of Business & Technology.[38]Forbes Media CEO Mike Federle justified the licensing in 2018, stating that "Our licensing business is almost a pure-profit business,because it's anannual annuity."[39]Forbes would launch limited promotions for the school in limited issues. Forbes would never formally endorse the school.

On January 6, 2014,Forbesmagazine announced that, in partnership with app creator Maz, it was launching a social networking app called "Stream". Stream allows Forbes readers to save and share visual content with other readers and discover content fromForbesmagazine and Forbes.com within the app.[40]

Forbes.com[edit]

Forbes.com is part of Forbes Digital, a division of Forbes Media LLC. Forbes's holdings include a portion ofRealClearPolitics.Together these sites reach more than 27 million unique visitors each month. Forbes.com employs the slogan "Home Page for the World's Business Leaders" and claimed, in 2006, to be the world's most widely visited business web site.[41]The 2009Timesreport 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-forpublic offering".[17]

As of 2019 the company published 100 articles each day produced by 3,000 outside contributors who were paid little or nothing.[42]This business model, in place since 2010,[43]"changed their reputation from being a respectable business publication to a content farm", according to Damon Kiesow, the Knight Chair in digital editing and producing at the University of Missouri School of Journalism.[42]Similarly, Harvard University's Nieman Lab deemed Forbes "a platform for scams, grift, and bad journalism" as of 2022.[44]

Forbes.com uses a "contributor model"in which a wide network of" contributors "writes and publishes articles directly on the website.[45]Contributors are paid based on traffic to their respective Forbes.com pages; the site has received contributions from over 2,500 individuals, and some contributors have earned over US$100,000, according to the company.[45]The contributor system has been criticized for enabling "pay-to-play journalism" and the repackaging ofpublic relationsmaterial as news.[44]Forbescurrently allows advertisers to publish blog posts on its website alongside regular editorial content through a program called BrandVoice, which accounts for more than 10 percent of its digital revenue.[46]Forbes.com also publishes subscriptioninvestmentnewsletters, and an online guide to web sites,Best of the Web.In July 2018 Forbes deleted an article by a contributor who argued that libraries should be closed, and Amazon should open bookstores in their place.[47]

David ChurbuckfoundedForbes's web site in 1996. The site uncoveredStephen Glass'sjournalistic fraudinThe New Republicin 1998, an article that drew attention tointernet journalism.[48]At the peak of media coverage of allegedToyotasudden unintended acceleration in 2010, it exposed the California "runaway Prius" as a hoax, as well as running five other articles by Michael Fumento challenging the entire media premise of Toyota's cars gone bad. The site, like the magazine, publishes many lists focusing on billionaires and their possessions, especially expensive homes, a critical aspect of the website's popularity.[49][better source needed]

Currently, the website also blocks internet users usingad blockingsoftware from accessing articles, demanding that the website be put on the ad blocking software'swhitelistbefore access is granted.[50]Forbes argues that this is done because customers using ad blockingsoftwaredo not contribute to the site's revenue. Malware attacks have been noted to occur from the Forbes site.[51]

Forbes won the2020 Webby People's Voice Award for Business Blog/Website.[52]

Forbes8[edit]

In November 2019, Forbes launched a streamingplatformForbes8, aimed for entrepreneurs.[53][54]In 2020, the network announced the release of several documentary series includingForbes Rap Mentors,Driven Against the Odds,Indie NationandTitans on the Rocks.[55][56]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^Romenesko, Jim (August 9, 2011)."Randall Lane returns to Forbes as editor".Poynter.org.Archived fromthe originalon February 22, 2014.
  2. ^"Consumer Magazines".Alliance for Audited Media.Archived fromthe originalon October 13, 2020.
  3. ^ab"Forbes Media Agrees To Sell Majority Stake to a Group of International Investors To Accelerate The Company's Global Growth".Forbes(Press release). July 18, 2014.RetrievedJuly 24,2015.
  4. ^ab"Forbes Sells to Hong Kong Investment Group".Recode.July 18, 2014. Archived fromthe originalon January 24, 2017.RetrievedAugust 27,2018.
  5. ^Silva, Emma (November 30, 2017)."Mike Federle Succeeds Mike Perlis As CEO Of Forbes".Folio.
  6. ^Carr, David."Even Forbes is Pinching Pennies".The New York Times.RetrievedApril 24,2024.
  7. ^Delbridge, Emily (November 21, 2019)."The 8 Best Business Magazines of 2020".The Balance Small Business.New York City: Dotdash. Best for Lists: Forbes.RetrievedFebruary 8,2020.
  8. ^"'Forbes' Launches New Tagline, Brand Campaign ".MediaPostb. October 24, 2012.RetrievedJanuary 24,2020.
  9. ^abPraneeth (July 6, 2007)."Notes of a Business Quizzer: Forbes".RetrievedAugust 27,2018.
  10. ^abcGorman, Robert F. (ed.) (2007) "September 15, 1917:ForbesMagazine is founded "The Twentieth Century, 1901–1940(Volume III) Salem Press, Pasadena, California, pp. 1374–1376 [1375],ISBN978-1-58765-327-8
  11. ^"Media Kit 2013"(PDF).Forbes Middle East.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on November 5, 2014.RetrievedSeptember 18,2014.
  12. ^Commerce and Industry Association of New York (November 18, 1922) "The Association Prepares for New Demands: The Volunteer Workers"Greater New York: Bulletin of the Merchants' Association of New YorkCommerce and Industry Association of New York City,p. 6,OCLC2447287
  13. ^ab'Forbes Announce Elevation Partners Investment in Family Held Company'ArchivedAugust 13, 2006, at theWayback MachineElevation Partners press release, August 6, 2006.
  14. ^Pérez-Peña, Richard (October 4, 2007)."James Michaels, Longtime Forbes Editor, Dies at 86".The New York Times.RetrievedJanuary 5,2008.
  15. ^"National Magazine Awards Database".Archived fromthe originalon May 26, 2011.RetrievedJanuary 5,2008.
  16. ^"NussbaumOnDesign Bono Buys into Forbes, Launches Product Red in US and Expands His Brand".Bloomberg BusinessWeek.Archived fromthe originalon August 9, 2006.RetrievedJanuary 5,2008.
  17. ^abcCarr, David(June 14, 2009)."Even Forbes is Pinching Pennies".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on April 1, 2012.RetrievedJune 15,2009.
  18. ^abTrachtenberg, Jeffrey A (July 19, 2014)."Forbes sold to Asian investors".MarketWatch.Market Watch, Inc.Archivedfrom the original on July 20, 2014.RetrievedJune 18,2017.
  19. ^"Forbes Sells Building to N.Y.U."New York Times Media Decoder.January 7, 2010.RetrievedFebruary 5,2013.
  20. ^Schneider, Mike (December 18, 2014)."Forbes Moves Across the Hudson to Jersey City".WNET – NJTV.RetrievedJune 14,2015.
  21. ^"Forbes moving into Jersey City offices on Monday, report says".The Jersey Journal.December 11, 2014.RetrievedJune 14,2015.
  22. ^Haughney, Christine; Gelles, David (November 15, 2013)."Forbes Says It Is for Sale".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on November 16, 2013.RetrievedNovember 25,2013.
  23. ^abDoctor, Ken (January 16, 2014)."The Newsonomics of Forbes' real performance and price potential".Nieman Lab.
  24. ^Fish, Isaac Stone (December 14, 2017)."Chinese ownership is raising questions about the editorial independence of a major U.S. magazine".The Washington Post.Archived fromthe originalon December 15, 2017.RetrievedNovember 22,2020.When a Chinese company buys a major American magazine, does the publication censor its coverage of China? There is only one example so far, and the results are discouraging. In 2014, a Hong Kong-based investment group called Integrated Whale Media purchased a majority stake in Forbes Media, one of the United States' best-known media companies. It's hard to demonstrate causality in such cases. But since that purchase, there have been several instances of editorial meddling on stories involving China that raise questions about Forbes magazine's commitment to editorial independence.
  25. ^Burtsztynsky, Jessica (August 26, 2021)."Forbes announces plan to go public via SPAC".CNBC.RetrievedAugust 26,2021.
  26. ^Wilson, Tom (February 10, 2022)."Crypto exchange Binance to invest $200 mln in U.S. media firm Forbes".Reuters.
  27. ^Osipovich, Alexander (February 10, 2022)."Crypto Exchange Binance to Invest $200 Million in Forbes".Wall Street Journal.
  28. ^Ramkumar, Amrith (June 1, 2022)."SeatGeek and Forbes Nix SPAC Deals During Market Pullback".The Wall Street Journal.
  29. ^Mullin, Benjamin; Hirsch, Lauren (August 2, 2022)."Forbes Explores Sale After SPAC Deal Collapses".The New York Times.
  30. ^ab"Russian tycoon claims he is behind Forbes purchase, audiotapes show".The Washington Post.October 20, 2023.RetrievedOctober 22,2023.
  31. ^"Forbes to be acquired by Luminar Technologies' Austin Russell".Axios.May 12, 2023.RetrievedDecember 22,2023.
  32. ^Bruell, Alexandra (May 12, 2023)."Automotive Tech Billionaire Austin Russell to Acquire Majority Stake in Forbes".The Wall Street Journal.
  33. ^Fischer, Sara (November 21, 2023)."Forbes deal dead as Austin Russell fails to raise cash by deadline".Axios.
  34. ^"Forbes.com Footer".Forbes.
  35. ^"With The May 14 Announced Separation: Twelve-Year-Old" American Legacy "/" Forbes "Partnership Was Mutually Beneficial".Archived fromthe originalon September 3, 2014.RetrievedSeptember 1,2014.
  36. ^McGrath, Charles (May 17, 2007)."Magazine Suspends Its Run in History".The New York Times.
  37. ^"Thank You for Your Feedback on the American Heritage Winter 2008 Issue".American Heritage.Archived fromthe originalon December 30, 2010.
  38. ^"Forbes School of Business & Technology Board of Advisors".University of Arizona Global Campus.RetrievedApril 22,2021.
  39. ^Patel, Sahil (December 21, 2018)."Amid media doom and gloom, Forbes says revenue was up and profits highest in a decade".Digiday.RetrievedMay 12,2019.
  40. ^"Forbes Is The First Magazine To Launch Its Own Social Network With" Stream "".Forbes.January 6, 2014.Archivedfrom the original on October 7, 2023.
  41. ^Edmonston, Peter (August 28, 2006)."At Forbes.com, Lots of Glitter but Maybe Not So Many Visitors".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on November 16, 2012.RetrievedMay 2,2011.
  42. ^abHsu, Tiffany (July 19, 2019)."Jeffrey Epstein pushed a new narrative; these sites published it".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on September 7, 2023.RetrievedAugust 22,2023.
  43. ^Sonderman, Jeff (May 29, 2012)."What the Forbes model of contributed content means for journalism".Poynter.RetrievedAugust 22,2023.
  44. ^abBenton, Joshua(February 9, 2022)."An incomplete history of Forbes.com as a platform for scams, grift, and bad journalism".Nieman Lab.RetrievedAugust 22,2023.
  45. ^abBartlett, Rachel (September 26, 2013)."The Forbes contributor model: Technology, feedback and incentives".journalism.co.uk.RetrievedOctober 13,2013.
  46. ^"Forbes gives advertisers an editorial voice".emedia. Archived fromthe originalon November 9, 2013.
  47. ^Weissman, Cale (July 23, 2018)."Forbes deleted its controversial article about Amazon replacing libraries".Fast Company.
  48. ^"Hello, My Name Is Stephen Glass, and I'm Sorry".The New Republic.ISSN0028-6583.RetrievedMay 16,2024.
  49. ^"Jobs: Motley to Leave Time Inc., Plus More Job-Hopping Fun".Gawker.Archived fromthe originalon February 18, 2008.RetrievedJanuary 5,2008.
  50. ^Bloomberg, Jason."Ad Blocking Battle Drives Disruptive Innovation".Forbes.RetrievedApril 14,2017.
  51. ^Hruska, Joel."Forbes forces readers to turn off ad blockers, promptly serves malware".Extreme Tech.RetrievedApril 14,2017.
  52. ^Kastrenakes, Jacob (May 20, 2020)."Here are all the winners of the 2020 Webby Awards".The Verge.RetrievedMay 22,2020.
  53. ^Releases, Forbes Press."Forbes8, Forbes' On-Demand Video Network For Entrepreneurs, Debuts New Slate Of Original Content".Forbes.RetrievedAugust 5,2020.
  54. ^Kene-Okafor, Tage (May 25, 2020)."Forbes8 launches digital startup accelerator, calls for applications".Techpoint Africa.RetrievedAugust 5,2020.
  55. ^"Forbes8 Original Series: 6 icons of entrepreneurship show you how to become your own boss".Grit Daily News.October 23, 2019.RetrievedAugust 5,2020.
  56. ^"Forbes Councils".Forbes.RetrievedFebruary 9,2022.

Further reading[edit]

  • Merid, Fevin (2023) "Big Business: The disarray and discontent at Forbes" Columbia Journalism Review[1]
  • Benton, Joshua (2022) "An incomplete history of Forbes.com as a platform for scams, grift, and bad journalism" NiemanLabs[2]
  • Forbes, Malcolm S. (1973).Fact and Comment.Knopf, New York,ISBN0-394-49187-4;twenty-five years of the editor's columns fromForbes
  • Grunwald, Edgar A. (1988).The Business Press Editor.New York University Press, New York,ISBN0-8147-3016-7
  • Holliday, Karen Kahler (1987).A Content Analysis ofBusiness Week,ForbesandFortunefrom 1966 to 1986.Master's of Journalism thesis from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, 69 pages,OCLC18772376,available on microfilm
  • Kohlmeier, Louis M.; Udell, Jon G. and Anderson, Laird B. (eds.) (1981).Reporting on Business and the Economy.Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey,ISBN0-13-773879-X
  • Kurtz, Howard (2000).The Fortune Tellers: Inside Wall Street's Game of Money, Media, and Manipulation.Free Press, New York,ISBN0-684-86879-2
  • Pinkerson, Stewart (2011).The Fall of the House of Forbes: The Inside Story of the Collapse of a Media Empire.New York City: St. Martin's Press.ISBN978-0312658595.
  • Tebbel, John Williamand Zuckerman, Mary Ellen (1991).The Magazine in America, 1741–1990.Oxford University Press, New York,ISBN0-19-505127-0
  • Parsons, D. W. (1989).The Power of the Financial Press: Journalism and Economic Opinion in Britain and America.Rutgers University Press, New Jersey,ISBN0-8135-1497-5

External links[edit]

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