Malcolm Forbes

Forbes was born on August 19, 1919, in Englewood, New Jersey, the son of Adelaide Mary (Stevenson) and Scottish-born financial journalist and author B. C. Forbes.[2] He graduated from The Lawrenceville School in 1937.[3] 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."[4][5] 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.[5][6]

Forbes headquarters, New York City

After dabbling in politics, including service in the New Jersey Senate from 1951 to 1957 and an unsuccessful candidacy for Governor of New Jersey,[7][5] he committed himself full time to the magazine 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. (The title had nothing to do with Forbes's famous Fabergé egg collection.) To honor his contribution to the magazine, Forbes won the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism in 1989.[8]

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 In addition to a huge art collection and a collection of historical documents, he collected Harley-Davidson motorbikes and specially shaped hot air balloons.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.[9]

Malcolm Forbes' lavish lifestyle was exemplified by his private Capitalist Tool Boeing 727 trijet, ever-larger Highlander yachts, and his French Chateau (Château de Balleroy in Normandy) as well as his opulent birthday parties. In the mid-1960s he was a fixture at NYC's famous Cat Club on Wednesday nights, supporting local musical talent.

Forbes' Château de Balleroy

He chose the Mendoub Palace (which he had acquired from the Moroccan government in 1970) in the northwestern city of Tangier, Morocco, to host his 70th birthday party. Spending an estimated $2.5 million, he chartered a Boeing 747, a Douglas 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 (who acted as a co-host), Gianni Agnelli, Robert Maxwell, Barbara Walters, Henry Kissinger, six U.S. 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 ending with the firing of muskets into the air—by 300 Berber horsemen.[10]

Party favors included a custom-engraved Rolex watch for each guest.

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.

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 unsuccessfully for president in 1996 and 2000.[11]

While living abroad, his father returned to Buchan, Aberdeenshire, every two years, staying in the Cruden Bay Hotel, "to entertain people of Whitehill to a picnic". It was a tradition revived by Malcolm in 1987.[12]

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 alleged Forbes was a gay man.[13] 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?"[14] Even in death, the media was reluctant to disclose his sexuality; when The New York Times reported on the controversy, they did not name Forbes in their coverage, referring only to news about a "famous, deceased millionaire".[13]

Forbes died in 1990 of a heart attack at age 70 at his home, Timberfield, in Far Hills, New Jersey.[5] He was pronounced dead by his friend and physician Dr. Oscar Kruesi.[15]

Since Malcolm Forbes's death, the magazine business has been run by his son Steve Forbes and granddaughter Moira Forbes.

• 1942 - Bronze Star
• 1942 - Purple Heart
• 1949 - Freedoms Foundation Medal
• 1974 - Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement[16]
• 1983 - Pride of Performance award given by the then President of Pakistan

• Forbes Galleries
• Forbes Museum of Tangier

• Peer, Elizabeth (January 30, 1984). "The High Life of Malcolm The Audacious". New York.

• Quotations related to Malcolm Forbes at Wikiquote
• Forbes, Malcolm (June 1987), "The Art of Motorcycle Touring; Driving a motorcycle across the country or around the globe begins with the right equipment – and lots of friends", Popular Mechanics, Hearst Magazines, vol. 164, no. 6, pp. 90–94, 132, ISSN 0032-4558, retrieved May 22, 2011