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. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes, while Sherry Phillips has served as CEO since January 1, 2025. 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. The motto of Forbes magazine is "Change the World".

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 on September 15, 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 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 Forbes (1919–1990).

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

On Bruce's death, his brother Malcolm Forbes became president and chief executive officer of Forbes, and editor-in-chief of Forbes magazine. 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 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. 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." It was later revealed that the price had been US$264 million.

In 2021, Forbes Media reported a return to profit, with revenue increasing by 34 percent to $165 million. Much of the revenue growth was attributed to Forbes' consumer business, which was up 83 percent year-over-year. CEO Mike Federle says that Forbes is built on an audience and business scale with 150 million consumers.

In January 2010, Forbes reached an agreement to sell its headquarters building on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan to New York University; terms of the deal were not publicly reported, but Forbes was to continue to occupy the space under a five-year sale-leaseback arrangement. The company's headquarters moved to the Newport section of downtown Jersey City, New Jersey, in 2014.

In November 2013, Forbes Media, which publishes Forbes magazine, was put up for sale. This was encouraged by minority shareholders Elevation Partners. Sale documents prepared by Deutsche Bank revealed that the publisher's 2012 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization was US$15 million. Forbes reportedly sought a price of US$400 million. In July 2014, the Forbes family bought out Elevation and then Hong Kong-based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments purchased a 51 percent majority of the company.