1917 – Bertie Forbes begins publishing his business magazine called Forbes. The United States enters World War I.
Bertie Charles Forbes was born in Scotland in 1880 as the sixth of 10 children. His father was a tailor, but also ran a general store. Bertie Forbes originally worked for the Dundee Courier in Scotland . Forbes moved to South Africa in 1902 and got a job at the Natal Mercury, but soon went to work for the Rand Daily Mail. It was in South Africa where Forbes became interested in business news.
In 1904, Forbes came to New York to work. His first job was with the Journal of Commerce, where he made a name for himself by actually reporting the importers’ prices of raw silk – the deal they made with the buyers, not their asking price. The tactic caused consternation with the silk importers, but the reporting caused the market for silk to become more competitive as prices fell. According to Winans, “He brought enterprise reporting to business journalism, uncovering and reporting market-moving information, using a variety of investment-banker types as confidential sources, thus establishing himself as an influential source in business.”
Forbes added a column called Fact and Comment (a later staple in Forbes) to the Journal and then later began writing the newspaper’s weekly money market recap. That drew the attention of William Randolph Hearst, who hired Forbes in 1911 for the New York American as his main syndicated business and financial columnist. At one point, the column ran in nearly 100 newspapers, and Forbes used his influence to become friendly with rich Wall Street investors and bankers. He would use these contacts to find investors for his new venture.
Forbes started his own magazine “devoted to doers and doings” in 1917. Originally, he wanted to call the publication Doers and Doings, but Walter Drey, the general manager of the Magazine of Wall Street, convinced his new business partner to use his last name because it was well-known with the investment community. Forbes had success earlier in the year with a book called Men who are making America , a collection of short biographies about businessmen, and its success allowed him to start the magazine. In 1926, Forbes followed it up with a book titled Automotive giants of America .
As with Collier’s, McClure’s and other magazines in the early 20 th century, the new publisher named it after himself. The first issue sold for 15 cents, and it included an explanation of an interview with John D. Rockefeller with the teaser on the cover noting, “How Forbes gets big men to talk.” The reverence to Rockefeller was in stark contrast to what Ida Tarbell had written about the businessman. “The man who built up the most wonderful business the world has ever known, not only tells, in the next issue of Forbes magazine, how he got on, but gives pointed advice to the young men – and the older men, also – of America, on how to succeed and how to live,” wrote Forbes. He noted that such interviews require careful preparation. The issue also contained articles on New York banking laws, utilities, and big bankers forecasting money rates. In a somewhat surprising addition, it also included a piece called “Woman in Business” that was written by Marian Glenn. At the time, there were few women writing about business or anything else, and few women in business.