Malcolm Forbes (1919-1990)

Malcolm Stevenson Forbes was born on August 19, 1919 in Brooklyn, New York.

His father, Bertie Charles (B.C.) Forbes was a Scottish immigrant. He had been a columnist at one of William Randolph Hearst’s newspapers and later wrote books about business. In 1917 he founded America’s first business magazine called “Forbes”.

Malcolm graduated from Princeton University in 1941 with a major in political science.

His first jobs at Forbes was working in the mailroom at the Forbes publishing offices during his school years.

Malcolm was inducted into the army as a private at the start of World War II in 1941. He was assigned to a heavy machine gun section in the 334th Infantry, the so-called "Railsplitters". He served in Europe.

He was discharged in 1945 with the rank of staff sergeant. He was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.

After the war Malcolm rejoined Forbes and took over the floundering magazine, when his father died in 1954. In 1957 he became editor and publisher of Forbes.

Under Malcolm’s leadership, the magazine became the number one business magazine and left other publications, like Fortune and Businessweek, which were part of giant conglomerates behind it in ad sales and circulation numbers.

Malcolm made the magazine more glamorous and popular by publishing the Forbes' annual list of the wealthiest 400 people in America and the world.

The magazine grew and turned him into a multimillionaire. Later he diversified into real estate and other business ventures, like a motorbike dealership in New Jersey.

Malcolm wrote many books about business and virtues of laissez-faire capitalism.

In his later life he was a popular figure in the media. He loved the limelight.

Forbes died on February 24, 1990 of a heart attack.

He left an estate worth at least 400 million dollars. His oldest son, Steve took over the magazine, which continues to be the leader in business publications.