Forbes

Forbes (/fɔːrbz/) is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong-based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014.^[3][4] Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes,^[5] while Sherry Phillips has been CEO since January 2025.^[6][7] The company is headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Published eight times per year, Forbes features 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 its lists of the richest Americans (the Forbes 400), of 30 notable people under the age of 30 (the Forbes 30 Under 30), of America's wealthiest celebrities, of the world's top companies (the Forbes Global 2000), of the world's most powerful people, and of the world's billionaires.^[8]

Since 2010, the Forbes.com website has become increasingly reliant on freelance contributor network writers who have limited editorial oversight from the publication, the quality of which has been criticised and described as enabling "pay-to-play journalism".^[9][10]

Forbes Media headquarters at 499 Washington Blvd, Jersey City since 2014

B. C. Forbes, a financial columnist for the Hearst papers, and his partner Walter Drey, the general manager of the Magazine of Wall Street,^[11] founded Forbes magazine on September 15, 1917.^[12][13] 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.^[11] Drey became vice-president of the B.C. Forbes Publishing Company,^[14] 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 Forbes (1919–1990).

Bruce Forbes took over after his father's death, and his strengths lay in streamlining operations and developing marketing.^[12] During his tenure, from 1954 to 1964, the magazine's circulation nearly doubled.^[12]

On Bruce's death, his brother Malcolm Forbes became president and chief executive officer of Forbes, and editor-in-chief of Forbes magazine.^[15] Between 1961 and 1999 the magazine was edited by James Michaels.^[16] In 1993, under Michaels, Forbes was a finalist for the National Magazine Award.^[17] In 2006, an investment group Elevation Partners that includes rock star Bono bought 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.^[15][18] 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." Three years later, Mark M. Edmiston of AdMedia Partners observed, "It's probably not worth half of that now."^[19] It was later revealed that the price had been US$264 million.^[20]

En 2021, Forbes Media informó de un retorno a la rentabilidad, con un aumento de los ingresos del 34 por ciento hasta alcanzar los 165 millones de dólares. Gran parte de este crecimiento se atribuyó al negocio de consumo de Forbes, que aumentó un 83 por ciento interanual. ^{[ 21 ]} El director ejecutivo, Mike Federle, afirma que Forbes se basa en una audiencia y una escala empresarial de 150 millones de consumidores. ^{[ 22 ]}

En enero de 2010, Forbes llegó a un acuerdo para vender el edificio de su sede en la Quinta Avenida de Manhattan a la Universidad de Nueva York ; los términos del acuerdo no se hicieron públicos, pero Forbes continuaría ocupando el espacio bajo un acuerdo de venta con arrendamiento posterior a cinco años . ^{[ 23 ]} La sede de la empresa se trasladó al barrio de Newport en el centro de Jersey City , Nueva Jersey, en 2014. ^{[ 24 ] [ 25 ]}

En noviembre de 2013, Forbes Media, editora de la revista Forbes , se puso a la venta. ^{[ 26 ]} Esto fue impulsado por los accionistas minoritarios Elevation Partners . Los documentos de venta preparados por Deutsche Bank revelaron que las ganancias de la editorial en 2012 antes de intereses, impuestos, depreciación y amortización fueron de US$15 millones. ^{[ 27 ]} Según se informó, Forbes buscaba un precio de US$400 millones. ^{[ 27 ]} En julio de 2014, la familia Forbes compró Elevation y luego el grupo de inversión Integrated Whale Media Investments, con sede en Hong Kong, compró una mayoría del 51 por ciento de la compañía. ^{[ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 20 ]}

En 2017, Isaac Stone Fish, miembro sénior de la Asia Society , escribió en The Washington Post que "Desde esa compra, ha habido varios casos de injerencia editorial en historias relacionadas con China que plantean dudas sobre el compromiso de la revista Forbes con la independencia editorial". ^{[ 28 ]}

El 26 de agosto de 2021, Forbes anunció sus planes de salir a bolsa mediante una fusión con una empresa de adquisición con fines especiales llamada Magnum Opus Acquisition, y de cotizar en la Bolsa de Nueva York como FRBS. ^{[ 29 ]} En febrero de 2022, se anunció que el exchange de criptomonedas Binance adquiriría una participación de 200 millones de dólares en Forbes como resultado de la salida a bolsa de la SPAC. ^{[ 30 ] [ 31 ]} En junio de 2022, la empresa canceló su fusión con la SPAC alegando condiciones de mercado desfavorables. ^{[ 32 ]}

En agosto de 2022, la empresa anunció que estaba explorando la venta de su negocio. ^{[ 33 ]} En mayo de 2023, se anunció que el multimillonario Austin Russell , fundador de Luminar Technologies , acordó adquirir una  participación del 82 por ciento en un acuerdo que valoraba la empresa en 800  millones de dólares. ^{[ 34 ]} Su participación mayoritaria incluiría la parte restante de la empresa propiedad de la familia Forbes que no se había vendido previamente a Integrated Whale Media. ^{[ 35 ] [ 36 ]} La transacción atrajo el escrutinio del Comité de Inversión Extranjera en los Estados Unidos . Russell negó los informes que indicaban que el empresario ruso Magomed Musaev estaba involucrado en la transacción. ^{[ 34 ]} En noviembre de 2023, el acuerdo fracasó, ya que Russell no pudo reunir los fondos necesarios. ^{[ 37 ]}

Aparte de Forbes y sus suplementos de estilo de vida, Forbes Life , la revista tiene 42 ediciones internacionales que cubren 69 países: ^{[ 38 ]}

El presidente y editor jefe, Steve Forbes, y los redactores de su revista ofrecen asesoramiento sobre inversiones en el programa semanal de Fox TV, Forbes on Fox , y en Forbes on Radio . Otros grupos de la empresa incluyen Forbes Conference Group, Forbes Investment Advisory Group y Forbes Custom Media. Según un informe del Times de 2009 : «Steve Forbes regresó recientemente de inaugurar una revista Forbes en la India , elevando a 10 el número de ediciones extranjeras». Además, ese mismo año la empresa comenzó a publicar ForbesWoman , una revista trimestral editada por la hija de Steve Forbes, Moira Forbes , con un sitio web complementario. ^{[ 19 ]}

La empresa anteriormente publicaba la revista American Legacy como una empresa conjunta, aunque esa revista se separó de Forbes el 14 de mayo de 2007. ^{[ 40 ]}

La empresa también publicó anteriormente las revistas American Heritage e Invention & Technology . Tras no encontrar comprador, Forbes suspendió la publicación de estas dos revistas el 17 de mayo de 2007. ^{[ 41 ]} Ambas revistas fueron adquiridas por American Heritage Publishing Company y reanudaron su publicación en la primavera de 2008. ^{[ 42 ]} Forbes publica la Guía de Viajes Forbes desde 2009. ^{[ 43 ]}

En 2013, Forbes otorgó la licencia de su marca a la Universidad de Ashford y colaboró ​​en el lanzamiento de la Escuela de Negocios y Tecnología Forbes . ^{[ 44 ]} El director ejecutivo Mike Federle justificó la concesión de la licencia en 2018, afirmando que «Nuestro negocio de licencias es prácticamente un negocio de lucro puro , porque es una renta vitalicia anual ». ^{[ 45 ]} Forbes lanzó promociones limitadas para la escuela en números limitados. Forbes nunca ha respaldado formalmente a la escuela.

El 6 de enero de 2014, la revista Forbes anunció que, en colaboración con el creador de aplicaciones Maz, lanzaría una aplicación de redes sociales llamada "Stream". Stream permite a los lectores de Forbes guardar y compartir contenido visual con otros lectores y descubrir contenido de la revista Forbes y Forbes.com dentro de la aplicación. ^{[ 46 ]}

David Churbuck founded Forbes's web site in 1996. The site uncovered Stephen Glass's journalistic fraud in The New Republic in 1998, an article that drew attention to internet journalism.^[47] At the peak of media coverage of alleged Toyota sudden 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 website (like the magazine) publishes lists focusing on billionaires and their possessions, especially real estate.^[48][49][22]

Forbes.com is part of Forbes Digital, a division of Forbes Media LLC. Forbes's holdings include a portion of RealClearPolitics. 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.^[50] 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".^[19]

Forbes.com uses a contributor network in which a wide network of freelancers ("contributors") writes and publishes articles directly on the website.^[51] 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.^[51] The contributor system has been criticized for enabling "pay-to-play journalism" and the repackaging of public relations material as news.^[10]Forbes currently 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.^[52] In July 2018, Forbes deleted an article by a contributor who argued that libraries should be closed and that Amazon should open bookstores in their place.^[53]

As of 2019, the company published 100 articles each day, produced by 3,000 outside contributors who were paid little or nothing.^[9] This business model, in place since 2010,^[54] "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.^[9] Similarly, Harvard University's Nieman Lab deemed Forbes "a platform for scams, grift, and bad journalism" as of 2022.^[10]

In 2017, the website blocked internet users using ad blocking software from accessing articles, requiring that the website be put on the ad blocking software's whitelist before access was granted.^[55] Forbes argued that this is done because customers using ad blocking software do not contribute to the site's revenue. Malware attacks have been noted to occur from the Forbes site.^[56]

Forbes won the 2020 Webby People's Voice Award for Business Blog/Website.^[57]

In November 2019, Forbes launched a streaming platform Forbes8, highlighting notable entrepreneurs and sharing business tips.^[58][59][60] In 2020, the network announced the release of several documentary series including Forbes Rap Mentors, Driven Against the Odds, Indie Nation and Titans on the Rocks.^[61]

• Forbes 30 Under 30
• Forbes 400
• Forbes 500
• Forbes Global 2000
• The World's Billionaires
• World's 100 Most Powerful Women
• World's Most Powerful People
• List of centibillionaires

• Benton, Joshua (February 9, 2022). "An incomplete history of Forbes.com as a platform for scams, grift, and bad journalism". Nieman Journalism Lab.
• Forbes, Malcolm S. (1973). Fact & Comment. New York: Knopf. ISBN 0-394-49187-4. OL 21359357M. Twenty-five years of the editor's columns from Forbes
• Grunwald, Edgar A. (1988). The Business Press Editor. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 0-8147-3016-7. OL 2403966M.
• Kohlmeier, Louis M.; Udell, Jon G.; Anderson, Laird B., eds. (1981). Reporting on Business and the Economy. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. ISBN 0-13-773879-X. OL 4114694M.
• Kurtz, Howard (2000). The Fortune Tellers: Inside Wall Street's Game of Money, Media, and Manipulation. New York: Free Press. ISBN 0-684-86879-2. OL 6786674M.
• Merid, Fevin (August 10, 2023). "Big Business: The disarray and discontent at Forbes". Columbia Journalism Review.
• Parsons, D. W. (1989). The Power of the Financial Press: Journalism and Economic Opinion in Britain and America. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. ISBN 0-8135-1497-5. OL 2217704M.
• 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. ISBN 978-0312658595.
• Tebbel, John William; Zuckerman, Mary Ellen (1991). The Magazine in America, 1741–1990. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-505127-0.

• Official website
• Forbes at the Internet Archive