Short answers, pulled from the story.
Forbes was founded on the 15th of September 1917 by B. C. Forbes, a financial columnist for the Hearst papers, and his partner Walter Drey, general manager of the Magazine of Wall Street. Forbes provided the money and the name; Drey brought publishing expertise. The magazine's original full title was Forbes: Devoted to Doers and Doings.
Forbes has been majority-owned by Hong Kong-based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014, when the group purchased a 51 percent stake. The company is headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. Steve Forbes serves as chairman and editor-in-chief, and Sherry Phillips has been CEO since January 2025.
Forbes is best known for several recurring rankings: the Forbes 400 (the richest Americans), the Forbes 30 Under 30 (30 notable people under age 30), the Forbes Global 2000 (the world's top companies), the list of the world's billionaires, and a list of the world's most powerful people. The magazine also publishes a ranking of America's wealthiest celebrities.
Since 2010, Forbes.com has relied on a freelance contributor network in which thousands of writers publish directly to the site with limited editorial oversight, paid based on page traffic. Damon Kiesow, the Knight Chair at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, said this model changed Forbes's reputation from a respectable business publication to a content farm. Harvard University's Nieman Lab called Forbes.com a platform for scams, grift, and bad journalism as of 2022.
Forbes announced on the 26th of August 2021 that it would go public by merging with Magnum Opus Acquisition and trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker FRBS. In June 2022, the company terminated the merger, citing unfavorable market conditions. A subsequent deal to sell an 82 percent stake to Austin Russell, founder of Luminar Technologies, at an $800 million valuation also collapsed in November 2023 when Russell could not assemble the necessary funds.
Forbes publishes 42 international editions covering 69 countries, as well as a dedicated Asia edition. Several editions have ceased publication, including Forbes Russia, Forbes Indonesia, Forbes Baltic, Forbes Estonia, Forbes Latvia, and Forbes Lithuania. The magazine is published eight times per year.