Forbes
U.S. center-right
Background
Forbes was founded on September 15, 1917 by Scottish-American journalist B.C. Forbes and business partner Walter Drey, originally subtitled 'Devoted to Doers and Doings.' The magazine remained in the Forbes family for nearly a century, growing under Malcolm Forbes, who expanded its profile and launched the Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans in 1982. Steve Forbes, Malcolm's son, took over as chairman and editor-in-chief and ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 1996 and 2000 on a flat-tax platform, giving the publication a distinctly pro-market, center-right editorial identity. In 2014, the family sold a majority 51% stake to Integrated Whale Media Investments, a Hong Kong-based consortium, in a deal valuing the company at roughly $475 million. Two subsequent attempts to change ownership—a SPAC merger that collapsed in 2022 and a proposed sale to tech billionaire Austin Russell that fell through in late 2023—left Integrated Whale Media as the controlling owner. Multiple media-bias trackers, including AllSides and Ad Fontes Media, rate Forbes as center or very slightly center-right overall, with relatively high factual reliability, though its opinion and business-editorial content tilts more visibly toward free-market conservatism. Steve Forbes endorsed Donald Trump in 2016 and has remained generally favorable toward his economic agenda, though the wider newsroom produces reporting that at times scrutinizes administration policies on trade, healthcare, and fiscal policy.
Sources
- Forbes - Wikipedia
- Forbes Media Bias | AllSides
- Forbes - Bias and Credibility | Media Bias/Fact Check
- Forbes Bias and Reliability | Ad Fontes Media
- Who Owns Forbes | companieshistory.com
- Forbes Media sells majority stake to Hong Kong investors | CNBC
- Forbes Trump Tracker
- Trump Throws The Economy Into Even More Uncertainty | Forbes
Profile compiled 2026-07-04; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.