Malcolm Stevenson Forbes (August 19, 1919 – February 24, 1990) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

entrepreneur most prominently known as the publisher of ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'' magazine, founded by his father

B. C. Forbes Bertie Charles Forbes (; May 14, 1880 – May 6, 1954) was a Scottish-American financial journalist and author who founded ''Forbes'' magazine. Life and career Forbes was born in New Deer, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, the son of Agnes (Moir) a ...

. He was known as an avid promoter of

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...

and

free market economics Free may refer to: Concept * Freedom, having the ability to do something, without having to obey anyone/anything * Freethought, a position that beliefs should be formed only on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism * Emancipate, to procure ...

and for an extravagant lifestyle, spending on parties, travel, and his collection of homes, yachts, aircraft, art, motorcycles, and

Fabergé egg A Fabergé egg (russian: link=no, яйцо Фаберже́, translit=yaytso Faberzhe) is a jewelled egg created by the jewellery firm House of Fabergé, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. As many as 69 were created, of which 57 survive today. Virtual ...

Life and career

Forbes was born on August 19, 1919, in

Englewood, New Jersey Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, which at the 2020 United States census had a population of 29,308. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from por ...

, the son of Adelaide Mary (Stevenson) and Scottish-born financial journalist and author

. He graduated from The Lawrenceville School in 1937. In 1941 he received an A.B. from the School of Public and International Affairs, now

Princeton School of Public and International Affairs The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (formerly the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs) is a professional public policy school at Princeton University. The school provides an array of comprehensive course ...

, at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

, with a 176-page senior thesis, "Weekly Newspapers - An Evaluation." Forbes enlisted in the Army in 1942 and served as a machine gunner in the 84th Infantry Division in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, rising to the rank of

staff sergeant Staff sergeant is a rank of non-commissioned officer used in the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. History of title In origin, certain senior sergeants were assigned to administrative, supervi ...

. Forbes received a thigh wound in combat, and received a

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

and a

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, w ...

After dabbling in politics, including service in the

New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate was established as the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232, ...

from 1951 to 1957 and an unsuccessful candidacy for

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official res ...

, he committed himself full time to the magazine by 1957, three years after his father's death. After the death of his brother Bruce Charles Forbes in 1964, he acquired sole control of the company. The magazine grew steadily, and Forbes diversified his investments into real estate sales and other ventures. One of his last projects was the magazine ''Egg'', which chronicled New York's nightlife. (The title had nothing to do with Forbes's famous

collection.) To honor his contribution to the magazine, Forbes won the

Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism The Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism is an annual award presented by Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The recipient is deemed to represent a leading figure in the journalism ...

in 1989. Forbes was an avid but idiosyncratic collector. In addition to a huge art collection and a collection of historical documents, he collected

Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depressi ...

motorbikes and specially shaped

hot air balloon A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carries p ...

s. He owned more than 365 works by

Peter Carl Fabergé Peter Carl Fabergé, also known as Karl Gustavovich Fabergé (russian: Карл Гу́ставович Фаберже́, ''Karl Gustavovich Faberzhe''; 30 May 1846 – 24 September 1920), was a Russian jewellery, jeweller best known for the fam ...

, including a dozen Imperial eggs. Malcolm Forbes' lavish lifestyle was exemplified by his private ''Capitalist Tool''

Boeing 727 The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airpo ...

trijet A trijet is a jet aircraft powered by three jet engines. In general, passenger airline trijets are considered to be second-generation jet airliners, due to their innovative engine locations, in addition to the advancement of turbofan technology. ...

, ever-larger ''Highlander'' yachts, and his French Chateau (

Château de Balleroy The Château de Balleroy is a seventeenth-century château in Balleroy, Normandy. Outlook The fief of Balleroy, near the forest and abbey of Cerisy, was acquired on April 1, 1600 by Jean de Choisy, wine supplier at the court of Henry IV. The ...

in Normandy) as well as his opulent birthday parties. In the mid 1960s he was a fixture at NYC's famous Cat Club on Wednesday nights, supporting local musical talent. Chateau de Balleroy

He chose the Mendoub Palace (which he had acquired from the Moroccan government in 1970) in the northwestern city of

Tangier Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the cap ...

, Morocco, to host his 70th birthday party. Spending an estimated $2.5 million, he chartered a

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...

, a

Douglas DC-8 The Douglas DC-8 (sometimes McDonnell Douglas DC-8) is a long-range narrow-body airliner built by the American Douglas Aircraft Company. After losing the May 1954 US Air Force tanker competition to the Boeing KC-135, Douglas announced in Ju ...

and a

Concorde The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde () is a retired Franco-British supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France an ...

to fly in eight hundred of the world's rich and famous from New York and London. The guests included his friend

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...

(who acted as a co-host),

Gianni Agnelli Giovanni "Gianni" Agnelli (; 12 March 192124 January 2003), nicknamed ("The Lawyer"), was an Italian industrialist and principal shareholder of Fiat. As the head of Fiat, he controlled 4.4% of Italy's GDP, 3.1% of its industrial workforce a ...

Robert Maxwell Ian Robert Maxwell (born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch; 10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991) was a Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor, member of parliament (MP), suspected spy, and fraudster. Early in his life, Maxwell escaped from N ...

Barbara Walters Barbara Jill Walters (born September 25, 1929) is an American broadcast journalist and television personality. Known for her interviewing ability and popularity with viewers, Walters appeared as a host of numerous television programs, including ...

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...

, six U.S. state governors, and the CEOs of scores of multinational corporations likely to advertise in his magazine. The party entertainment was on a grand scale, including 600 drummers, acrobats and dancers and a fantasia—a cavalry charge ending with the firing of muskets into the air—by 300 Berber horsemen. Party favors included a custom-engraved

Rolex Rolex SA () is a British-founded Swiss watch designer and manufacturer based in Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in 1905 as ''Wilsdorf and Davis'' by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis in London, the company registered ''Rolex'' as the brand name of ...

watch for each guest. Forbes became a motorcyclist late in life. He founded and rode with a motorcycle club called the Capitalist Tools. His estate in New Jersey was a regular meeting place for tours that he organized for fellow New Jersey and New York motorcyclists. He had a stable of motorcycles but was partial to

machines. He was known for his gift of Purple Passion, a Harley-Davidson, to actress

. He was also instrumental in getting legislation passed to allow motorcycles on the

Garden State Parkway The Garden State Parkway (GSP) is a controlled-access toll road that stretches the north–south length of eastern New Jersey from the state's southernmost tip near Cape May to the New York state line at Montvale. Its name refers to New Jersey ...

in New Jersey.

Personal life

Forbes was married for thirty-nine years to Roberta Remsen Laidlaw before their divorce in 1985. The couple had five children: Malcolm S. Jr., Robert Laidlaw, Christopher Charles, Timothy Carter, and Moira Hamilton. Malcolm S. Forbes Jr., known as Steve, ran for president in 1996. While living abroad, his father returned to

Buchan Buchan is an area of north-east Scotland, historically one of the original provinces of the Kingdom of Alba. It is now one of the six committee areas and administrative areas of Aberdeenshire Council, Scotland. These areas were created by th ...

, Aberdeenshire, every two years, staying in the

Cruden Bay Hotel Cruden Bay Hotel was a hotel in Cruden Bay, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Following the success of the Palace Hotel in Aberdeen, it was built between 1897 and 1899 by the same owners. It closed in 1932 and was demolished between 1947 and 1952. The ...

, "to entertain people of Whitehill to a picnic". It was a tradition revived by Malcolm in 1987. In March 1990, soon after his death, ''

OutWeek ''OutWeek'' was a gay and lesbian weekly news magazine published in New York City from 1989 to 1991. During its two-year existence, ''OutWeek'' was widely considered the leading voice of AIDS activism and the initiator of a cool new sensibility in ...

'' magazine published a story with the cover headline "The Secret Gay Life of Malcolm Forbes", by

Michelangelo Signorile Michelangelo Signorile (; born December 19, 1960) is an American journalist, author and talk radio host. His radio program is aired each weekday across the United States and Canada on Sirius XM Radio and globally online. Signorile was editor-a ...

, which

alleged In law, an allegation is a claim of an unproven fact by a party in a pleading, charge, or defense. Until they can be proved, allegations remain merely assertions.

Forbes was a gay man. Signorile was critical of the media for helping Forbes publicize many aspects of his life while keeping his homosexuality a secret. The writer asked, "Is our society so overwhelmingly repressive that even individuals as all-powerful as the late Malcolm Forbes feel they absolutely cannot come out of the closet?" Even in death, the media was reluctant to disclose his sexuality; ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' would refer only to him as a "famous, deceased millionaire" while reporting on the controversy.

Death and legacy

Forbes died in 1990 of a heart attack at age 70 at his home, Timberfield, in

Far Hills, New Jersey Far Hills is a borough in Somerset County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, the population was 919,Steve Forbes Malcolm Stevenson Forbes Jr. (; born July 18, 1947) is an American publishing executive and politician who is the editor-in-chief of ''Forbes'', a business magazine. He is the son of longtime ''Forbes'' publisher Malcolm Forbes and the grandso ...

and granddaughter

Moira Forbes Moira Forbes (born July 19, 1979) is an American journalist and member of the Forbes publishing family. Early life Moira Forbes is the daughter of Steve Forbes, who was a former Republican presidential candidate and the chairman and editor-in-c ...

Awards and honors

*1942 -

*1949 -

Freedoms Foundation The Freedoms Foundation is an American non-profit, non-partisan, non-sectarian educational organization, founded in 1949. The foundation is located adjacent to the Valley Forge National Historical Park, near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Bill of R ...

Medal *1974 - Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet o ...

*1983 -

Pride of Performance The Pride of Performance ( ur, ), officially known as Presidential Pride of Performance, is an award bestowed by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to recognize people with "notable achievements in the field of art, science, literature, sports, an ...

award given by the then President of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

Posthumous honors

* 1999 - inducted into the

Motorcycle Hall of Fame The AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum is an offshoot of the American Motorcyclist Association, recognizing individuals who have contributed to motorcycle sport, motorcycle construction, or motorcycling in general. It also displays motorcycles ...

in 1999 * 2008 - inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Forbes, Malcolm 1919 births 1990 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American politicians 20th-century LGBT people American art collectors American gay writers American magazine editors American magazine publishers (people) American male non-fiction writers American people of Scottish descent American socialites

Malcolm Malcolm, Malcom, Máel Coluim, or Maol Choluim may refer to: People * Malcolm (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Clan Malcolm * Maol Choluim de Innerpeffray, 14th-century bishop-elect of Dunkeld Nobility * Máe ...

Harmon Trophy winners Lawrenceville School alumni LGBT businesspeople from the United States LGBT people from New Jersey Motorcycling mass media people Republican Party New Jersey state senators People from Englewood, New Jersey People from Far Hills, New Jersey Politicians from Somerset County, New Jersey Princeton School of Public and International Affairs alumni Recipients of the Pride of Performance United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army soldiers