B.C. Forbes

Bertie Charles Forbes, born on May 14, 1880, in the small village of New Deer in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, was the founder of Forbes magazine and one of the most influential financial journalists in American history. His life is a remarkable story of self-made achievement, a journey from the humble farmlands of northeastern Scotland to the pinnacle of American business journalism. Forbes believed passionately that the purpose of business was not merely to accumulate wealth but to create value, generate opportunity, and contribute to the betterment of society, a philosophy that remains at the heart of the publication he created more than a century ago.

Forbes was one of ten children born to Robert Forbes, a storekeeper and tailor, and Agnes Moir Forbes. The family lived modestly in a tight-knit farming community, and young Bertie learned the value of hard work early, herding cattle for neighbors, helping with harvests, and shining shoes to contribute to the household income. He left school at the age of fourteen to begin working, but his sharp mind and natural curiosity drove him to continue educating himself through voracious reading and self-directed study. He found his way into journalism, working as a reporter and editorial writer for a local Scottish newspaper before attending University College, Dundee, then part of the University of St Andrews, to sharpen his writing skills and deepen his knowledge of the world beyond rural Aberdeenshire.

In 1901, Forbes embarked on an adventure that broadened his horizons considerably, moving to Johannesburg, South Africa, where he worked on the Rand Daily Mail under its first editor, the novelist and journalist Edgar Wallace. The experience gave him exposure to the world of mining finance and international commerce and deepened his understanding of how business and economic forces shape societies. It also whetted his appetite for a larger stage. In 1904, Forbes made the fateful decision to immigrate to the United States, settling in New York City, where he was employed as a financial writer and editor at the Journal of Commerce. His talent for clear, insightful financial reporting was quickly recognized, and in 1911 he joined the Hearst newspaper chain as a syndicated financial columnist, eventually becoming the business and financial editor of the New York American, one of the most widely read newspapers in the country.

Forbes’s column was distinctive because it focused not merely on stock prices, market trends, and corporate earnings but on the men behind the businesses. He was fascinated by the human dimensions of enterprise: the character, drive, vision, and moral fiber of the individuals who built companies, created jobs, and transformed industries. This approach struck a chord with readers who were eager to understand the personal qualities that distinguished successful entrepreneurs and business leaders from the rest. Forbes became one of the most widely read financial writers in the nation, and his reputation for fairness, insight, and integrity earned him unparalleled access to the most powerful business leaders of his era, from Andrew Carnegie to Henry Ford.

On September 15, 1917, Forbes realized his greatest ambition when he founded Forbes magazine, initially titled Forbes: Devoted to Doers and Doings. With his partner Walter Drey, the general manager of the Magazine of Wall Street, Forbes created a publication that combined rigorous financial reporting with compelling profiles of the businessmen and industrialists who were driving America’s economic growth. Forbes served as editor-in-chief from the magazine’s founding until his death, and under his leadership it became one of the most respected and widely read business publications in the world, renowned for its editorial independence and its celebration of entrepreneurial achievement.

Forbes’s editorial philosophy was grounded in a deep conviction that free enterprise was the engine of human progress and that the men and women who built businesses were performing a vital service to civilization. He celebrated entrepreneurs not as mere money-makers but as builders and creators whose work improved the lives of millions. “Business was originated to produce happiness, not to pile up millions,” he wrote, capturing in a single sentence his belief that commerce, properly understood, is a fundamentally moral endeavor that connects the pursuit of profit to the creation of genuine human value. He was equally insistent on the importance of character, hard work, honesty, and personal responsibility, values that he saw as essential to both individual success and the health of a free society.

Forbes was also a prolific author, writing numerous books on business, finance, and leadership, including Finance, Business, and the Business of Life, Men Who Are Making America, and Keys to Success. His writings offered practical wisdom and encouragement to aspiring entrepreneurs and business professionals, always emphasizing that lasting success was built on integrity, persistence, and a genuine desire to serve others rather than merely to enrich oneself. “What you have outside you counts less than what you have inside you,” he observed, reflecting his conviction that character was the ultimate determinant of a person’s worth and achievement in business and in life.

As a Scottish immigrant who arrived in the United States with little more than ambition, intelligence, and a willingness to work, Forbes personified the American Dream. He understood from personal experience that America’s greatness lay in its openness to talent and effort, regardless of origin, and he used his platform to champion the principles of free markets, limited government, and individual initiative that made such remarkable upward mobility possible. His life and work served as a constant reminder that a free society, unshackled from excessive regulation and bureaucratic interference, creates the conditions in which ordinary people can accomplish extraordinary things.

Bertie Charles Forbes died on May 6, 1954, just eight days before his seventy-fourth birthday, in New York City. His son, Malcolm Forbes, and later his grandson, Steve Forbes, carried on his legacy, building Forbes magazine into a global media enterprise. But the foundation of that enterprise remains the philosophy that B.C. Forbes articulated more than a century ago: that business at its best is a force for good, that the free market rewards character and innovation, and that the individual who works hard, acts with integrity, and refuses to be defeated by adversity will ultimately prevail. In an age when the relationship between business and society remains a subject of intense debate, the life and principles of B.C. Forbes continue to offer powerful guidance and inspiration.