All Topics  
Forbes

 
Forbes

   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link






 

Forbes



 
 
Forbes is an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 publishing
Publishing

Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information – the activity of making information available for public view....
 and media
Mass media

Mass media is a term used to denote a section of the media specifically envisioned and designed to reach a mainstream such as the population of a nation state....
 company. Its flagship publication, Forbes magazine, is published bi-weekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune
Fortune (magazine)

Fortune is a International business magazine published by Time Inc. Fortune|Money Group. Founded by Henry Luce in 1930, the publishing business, consisting of Time, Life , Fortune, and Sports Illustrated, grew to become Time Warner....
, which is also published bi-weekly, and Business Week. The magazine is well-known for its lists, including its lists of the richest Americans (the Forbes 400
Forbes 400

The Forbes 400 or 400 Richest People is a list published by Forbes Magazine of the wealthiest 400 Americans, ranked by net worth. The list is the oldest and most well known of the many lists of wealthy people published by Forbes, and is published annually in September....
) and its list of billionaires. The motto
Motto

A motto is a phrase meant to formally describe the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. A motto may be in any language, but Latin is the most used....
 of Forbes magazine is "The Capitalist Tool."








Discussion
Ask a question about 'Forbes'
Start a new discussion about 'Forbes'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Forbes is an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 publishing
Publishing

Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information – the activity of making information available for public view....
 and media
Mass media

Mass media is a term used to denote a section of the media specifically envisioned and designed to reach a mainstream such as the population of a nation state....
 company. Its flagship publication, Forbes magazine, is published bi-weekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune
Fortune (magazine)

Fortune is a International business magazine published by Time Inc. Fortune|Money Group. Founded by Henry Luce in 1930, the publishing business, consisting of Time, Life , Fortune, and Sports Illustrated, grew to become Time Warner....
, which is also published bi-weekly, and Business Week. The magazine is well-known for its lists, including its lists of the richest Americans (the Forbes 400
Forbes 400

The Forbes 400 or 400 Richest People is a list published by Forbes Magazine of the wealthiest 400 Americans, ranked by net worth. The list is the oldest and most well known of the many lists of wealthy people published by Forbes, and is published annually in September....
) and its list of billionaires. The motto
Motto

A motto is a phrase meant to formally describe the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. A motto may be in any language, but Latin is the most used....
 of Forbes magazine is "The Capitalist Tool."

Company history

B.C. Forbes, a financial columnist for the Hearst
William Randolph Hearst

William Randolph Hearst I was an United States History of American newspapers Business magnate and leading newspaper publisher. The son of self-made millionaire George Hearst, he became aware that his father received a northern California newspaper, The San Francisco Examiner, as payment of a gambling debt....
 papers, and his partner Walter Drey, the general manager of the Magazine of Wall Street, founded Forbes magazine in 1917. 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 BC 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 a professional editorial staff, instead of the previous heavy reliance on freelancer
Freelancer

A freelancer, freelance worker, or freelance is a self-employed person who pursues a profession without a long-term commitment to any particular employer....
s, and he started the first of the rankings articles for which Forbes became famous.

On Malcolm's death, his eldest son Malcolm Stevenson "Steve" Forbes Jr.
Steve Forbes

Malcolm Stevenson "Steve" Forbes, Jr. is the son of Malcolm Forbes and the editor-in-chief of business magazine Forbes as well as president and chief executive officer of its publisher, Forbes Inc....
 (1947–) became President and Chief Executive of Forbes and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes magazine. Between 1961 and 1999 the magazine was edited by James Michaels
James Michaels

James W. Michaels was an United States journalist and magazine Editing. Michaels served as the longtime editor of Forbes Magazine from 1961 until his retirement in 1999....
. In 1993, under Michaels, Forbes was a finalist for the National Magazine Award. In 2006, an investment group that includes rock star Bono
Bono

Paul David Hewson , also known by his stage name Bono, is the main vocalist of the Ireland rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his future wife, Ali Hewson, and the future members of U2....
 bought a minority interest in the company.

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
Fox News Channel

Fox News Channel is a US Cable News and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation....
 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.

The company formerly published American Legacy
American Legacy

American Legacy Every issue of American Legacy?the premier magazine of African-American history and culture?brings to light new stories of great men and women whose struggles, triumphs, and accomplishments compose our remarkable history and continue to empower us....
 magazine as a joint venture, although that magazine separated from Forbes as of May 14, 2007.

The company also formerly published American Heritage
American Heritage (magazine)

American Heritage is a monthly magazine dedicated to covering the History of the United States of America of the United States for a mainstream readership....
 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
The New Republic

The New Republic is an United States magazine of politics and the arts. It is published semimonthly and has a circulation of approximately 60,000....
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
Michael Noer

Michael Noer is an American business writer and editor. He has worked for Forbes Magazine and Wired Magazine, and is currently the executive news editor for Forbes.com....
 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
Playboy

Playboy is an American men's magazine, founded in Chicago, Illinois, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, which has grown into Playboy Enterprises, with a presence in nearly every medium....
 and TV Guide and former editor-in-chief of Yahoo! Internet Life
Yahoo! Internet Life

Yahoo! Internet Life was a monthly magazine published by Ziff-Davis, which licensed the name from Yahoo!, a well known Web search engine website....
, 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:

  • Forbes.com ()
  • ForbesTraveler.com ()
  • Investopedia.com
    Investopedia.com

    Investopedia is one of the Internet's largest sites devoted entirely to Investment education. The site was started by Cory Janssen and Cory Wagner in June 1999 at the height of the internet stock boom as an unbiased source to learn about investing....
     ()
  • Realclearmarkets.com ()
  • Realclearsports.com ()
  • Realclearpolitics.com ()
  • Clipmarks.com ()


Together these sites reach more than 27 million business people each month.

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.

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

  • 200 Best Small Companies
  • 400 Best Big Companies
  • Forbes 500
    Forbes 500

    The Forbes 500 was an annual listing of the top 500 United States companies produced by Forbes Magazine. The list was calculated by combining five factors: sales, profits, assets, market value, and employees....
  • Forbes Global 2000
    Forbes Global 2000

    The Forbes Global 2000 is an annual ranking of the top 2000 public companies in the world by Forbes magazine. The ranking is based on a mix of four metrics: Sales, Profit, Assets and Market value....
    , a list of largest companies in the world taking into account market capitalization
    Market capitalization

    Market capitalization/capitalisation is a measurement of corporate or economic wealth equal to the share price times the number of shares outstanding of a public company....
    , revenue
    Revenue

    In business, revenue or revenues is income that a corporation receives from its normal business activities, usually from the sale of product to customers....
    , income
    Income

    Income, refers to consumption opportunity gained by an entity within a specified time frame, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. However, for households and individuals, "income is the sum of all the wages, salaries, profits, interests payments, rents and other forms of earnings received......
     and assets (this is different basis for ranking than that used by the Fortune Global 500
    Fortune Global 500

    The Fortune Global 500 is a ranking of the top 500 corporations worldwide as measured by revenue. The list is compiled and published annually by Fortune magazine....
    , which is based only on revenues).
  • Largest Private Companies


People

In popular culture
Forbes is perhaps best-known for its many periodic lists of net worth
Net worth

In business, net worth is the total assets minus total outside liability of an individual or a company . For a company, this is called shareholders' equity and may be referred to as book value....
. As it often takes considerable detective work to determine the actual wealth of an individual,
Forbes' figures are widely cited as nearly-definitive.
  • Executive Pay
  • Forbes 400
    List of Americans by net worth

    The assembled net worth of America's wealthiest, in 2008, rose to $1.57 trillion, according to the Forbes 400.Rising prices of oil and art paved the way for 31 new members and eight returnees, while volatile stock and housing markets forced 33 from the rankings....
    , a list of the richest people in the United States
  • Midas List, an annual list of the top dealmakers in technology and life sciences
  • World's Richest People, a list of the richest people in the world
  • China Rich List
    China Rich List

    Forbes magazine annually lists the wealthiest individuals in mainland of People's republic of China - Forbes Mainland China Rich List - . What follows is the list of billionaires in mainland China, for 2007....
    , a list of the richest people in mainland China
  • India Rich List, list of the richest people in India
    India

    India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
  • Forbes Fictional 15
    Forbes Fictional 15

    The Forbes Fictional 15 is a list generated by Forbes magazine, that lists the 15 richest people in the realm of fiction. The members are characters from movies, books, cartoons and television....
    , a self-parodying list of the richest movie, TV and literary characters
  • The World's 100 Most Powerful Women
    Forbes Magazine's List of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women

    Starting in 2004, Forbes magazine has made a list of the 100 most powerful women in the world. It is edited by editor Elizabeth MacDonald and staff writer Chana R....
  • The Celebrity 100
    Celebrity 100

    The Celebrity 100 is an annual list compiled and published by Forbes Magazine since 1999. The purpose is to list the 100 most powerful celebrities of the year....
    , an annual list of famous and financially influential celebrities (i.e., entertainers, musicians, producers, directors, and athletes)
  • The China Celebrity 100
    China Celebrity 100

    China Celebrity 100 is a list published annually by Forbes China magazine, and is similar to Celebrity 100 also published by Forbes....
  • Top-Earning Dead Celebrities, a list of deceased celebrities that continue their revenue from posthumous
    List of works published posthumously

    The following is a list of works that were published, performed or distributed posthumously ....
     material


Fidel Castro conflict
In 2005,
Forbes listed Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary leader who was prime minister of Cuba from February 1959 to December 1976 and then president, premier until his resignation from the office in February 2008....
 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 Cities For Singles
  • Best Places For Business (e.g. list).
  • Most Expensive Zip Codes
  • Most Expensive Rental Markets In The U.S.


Further reading

  • Forbes, Malcolm S. (1974) Fact and Comment Knopf, New York, ISBN 0-394-49187-4; twenty-five years of the editor's columns from Forbes
  • Grunwald, Edgar A. (1988) The Business Press Editor New York University Press, New York, ISBN 0-8147-3016-7
  • Holliday, Karen Kahler (1987)A Content Analysis of Business Week, Forbes and Fortune from 1966-1986 Masters of Journalism thesis from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, 69 pages, , 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, ISBN 0-13-773879-X
  • Kurtz, Howard (2000) The Fortune Tellers: Inside Wall Street’s Game of Money, Media, and Manipulation Free Press, New York, ISBN 0-684-86879-2
  • Tebbel, John William and Zuckerman, Mary Ellen (1991) The Magazine in America, 1741-1990 Oxford University Press, New York, ISBN 0-19-505127-0
  • Parsons, D. W. (1989) The Power of the Financial Press: Journalism and Economic Opinion in Britain and America Rutgers University Press, New Jersey, ISBN 0-8135-1497-5


External links