Forbes Magazine: Investment and Celebrity Fix Publication

Flickr: Forbes

Forbes Magazine started the ‘richest people’ list that so many of us enviously peruse while imagining what we would do with the billions that some people have. Not much thought is given to the founder of Forbes and what he’s worth. B.C Forbes, co-founder and financier of Forbes Magazine is the guy who joined with Walter Drey to bring the world what is considered one of the foremost business magazines in the world.

Forbes Magazine

The magazine is published biweekly and devoured by the financial sector as it is known for its great investment advice and marketing topics. When B.C Forbes and Drey decided to start the magazine they had no idea it would turn into an empire with very few - but extremely worthy - competitors such as: Businessweek and Fortune magazines.

Started in 1917, Forbes gave the magazine his name and financial backing while Drey brought his publishing expertise to the table. Forbes worked tirelessly as editor-in-chief and in 1959 after his passing; his son - Bruce Charles Forbes – helmed the empire. Bruce’s strengths lay very clearly in streamlining operations so he made changes within the company and within his ten-year rein as head of Forbes magazine, he doubled the magazine’s circulation.

The publication may cater for investors and financial gurus but it also quenches the public’s thirst for celebrity financial questions. Everyone wants to know how much money celebs spend on their homes, themselves and the ridiculous amounts they spend on their dogs and parlours. It’s sickening and yet totally addictive. In 2006 stakes within Forbes magazine were sold with Bono of U2 fame buying into the famed magazine empire. Fifty Cent has also added his two cents to the mix by naming the remix of his ‘I Get Money’ hit to ‘Forbes 1, 2, 3.’

As much as Forbes Magazine is a very popular avenue of information the online Forbes has not garnered the hoped-for public reception but that has not changed the fact that $70 million to $80 million a year in revenue is still turned around.

The most recent Forbes new is that it sold the headquarters in New York’s 5th Avenue, Manhattan to the University of New York. Forbes magazine still resides in the building; they just don’t own it anymore. The magazine that has furnished some of the smartest financial minds of the modern-age with facts, figures and advice is now available for NYU students at the drop of a hat.

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Vida Denning is a freelance writer who enjoys reading Forbes Magazine in between looking for office space Brisbane.