B. C. Forbes

B. C. Forbes
Forbes c. 1917
Born
Bertie Charles Forbes

(1880-05-14)May 14, 1880
New Deer, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
DiedMay 6, 1954(1954-05-06) (aged 73)
New York City, U.S.
EducationUniversity of St Andrews
Occupations
  • Journalist
  • author
  • publisher
SpouseAdelaide Mary Stevenson
ChildrenMalcolm Forbes
FamilyForbes family
Signature

Bertie Charles Forbes (/fɔːrbz/; May 14, 1880 – May 6, 1954) was a Scottish-American financial journalist and author who founded Forbes magazine.

Early life and education

Forbes was born in New Deer, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, the son of Agnes (Moir) and Robert Forbes, a storekeeper and tailor at Whitehill, one of their ten children. Forbes attended University College, Dundee, which was then part of the University of St Andrews.

Career

In 1897, Forbes worked as a reporter and editorial writer with a local newspaper. In 1901, he moved to Johannesburg, South Africa, where he worked on the Rand Daily Mail under its first editor, Edgar Wallace.

In 1904, he immigrated to New York City where he was employed as a writer and financial editor at the Journal of Commerce before joining the Hearst chain of newspapers as a syndicated columnist in 1911. After two years, he became the business and financial editor at Hearst's New York American, where he remained until 1916.

He founded Forbes magazine in 1917 and remained the magazine's editor-in-chief until his death in New York City in 1954, though he was assisted in his later years by his two eldest sons, Bruce Charles Forbes and Malcolm Stevenson Forbes.

Forbes was the founder of the Investors League in 1942.

Family

The Forbes family includes a number of related people that founded, and have worked for, Forbes magazine. The family has close ties to Princeton University, with their namesake Forbes College as one of Princeton's residential colleges. Noted members include:

Death

He died on May 6, 1954. In 1988, his body was returned to his native Scotland, and lies buried in the New Deer Churchyard at Hill of Culsh in New Deer, Aberdeenshire. While living abroad, he returned to Buchan every two years, staying in the Cruden Bay Hotel, "to entertain people of Whitehill to a picnic". It was a tradition revived by his son, Malcolm, in 1987.

Published works

Forbes authored nine books:

References

  1. 1 2 "Forbes, Head Of Business Magazine, Dies". Chicago Tribune. May 7, 1954. p. 28. Retrieved January 25, 2025 – via Newspaper.somc.
  2. 1 2 3 McKean (1990), p. 78
  3. ↑ "Forbes, B. C. (1880–1954), financial journalist and publisher".
  4. ↑ "Bruce Forbes, 48, Magazine's Chief; President of Twice‐Monthly Business Publication Dies". The New York Times. June 3, 1964. Retrieved June 2, 2025.
  5. ↑ "B. C. Forbes Dies; Publisher, Was 73; Financial, Business Writer Had Magazine 30 Years, Was Syndicated Columnist". The New York Times. May 7, 1954. p. 24. Retrieved October 3, 2010.

Bibliography