Malcolm StevensonForbes was an American entrepreneur most prominently known as the publisher of Forbes magazine, founded by his father B. C. Forbes. He was known as an avid promoter of capitalism and free market trade, and for an extravagant lifestyle, spending on parties, travel, and his collection of homes, yachts, aircraft, art, motorcycles, and Fabergé eggs.
Life and career
Forbes was born on August 19, 1919, in Englewood, New Jersey, the son of Adelaide Mary and Scottish-born financial journalist and author B. C. Forbes. He graduated from the Lawrenceville prep 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, at Princeton University, 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, rising to the rank of staff sergeant. Forbes received a thigh wound in combat, and received a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. After dabbling in politics, including service in the New Jersey Senate from 1951 to 1957 and an unsuccessful candidacy for Governor of New Jersey, he committed to the magazine full-time 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. To honor his contribution to the magazine, Forbes won the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in 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 In addition to a huge art collection and a collection of historical documents, he collected Harley-Davidson motorbikes and specially shaped hot air balloons. He owned more than 365 works by Peter Carl Fabergé including a dozen Imperial eggs. Malcolm Forbes' lavish lifestyle was exemplified by his private Capitalist ToolBoeing 727trijet, ever larger Highlander yachts, his French Chateau, as well as his opulent birthday parties. Additionally, in the mid-1960s he was a fixture at NYC's famous Cat Club on Wednesday nights, supporting local musical talents. He chose the Palais Mendoub in the northwestern city ofTangier, Morocco, to host his 70th birthday party. Spending an estimated $2.5 million, he chartered a Boeing 747, a DC-8 and a Concorde to fly in eight hundred of the world's rich and famous from New York and London. The guests included his friend Elizabeth Taylor, Gianni Agnelli, Robert Maxwell, Barbara Walters, Henry Kissinger, half a dozen US 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 which ends with the firing of muskets into the air – by 300 Berber horsemen. 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 Harley-Davidson machines. He was known for his gift of Purple Passion, a Harley-Davidson, to actress Elizabeth Taylor. He was also instrumental in getting legislation passed to allow motorcycles on the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey. He was inducted to the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999. In 2008, he was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame.
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.
Death
Forbes died in 1990 of a heart attack at age 70, at his home, Timberfield, in Far Hills, New Jersey. He was pronounced dead by his friend and physician, Dr. Oscar Kruesi, said Don Garson, director of corporate communications for Forbes Inc. In March 1990, soon after his death, OutWeek magazine published a story with the cover headline "The Secret Gay Life of Malcolm Forbes," by Michelangelo Signorile, which outed Forbes as 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 would refer only to him as a "famous, deceased millionaire" while reporting on the controversy. Since Malcolm Forbes' death, the magazine business has been run by his son Steve Forbes and granddaughter Moira Forbes.
