A Blueprint to Living The “Forbes Life”
Forbes has thrived in large part because its mission has stayed consistent: the primacy of entrepreneurial capitalism and the inspiration to achieve success. Part of the magic of working here, however, is witnessing how elastic that brand can be. Several decades after B.C. Forbes founded the company, the legendary Malcolm Forbes, B.C.’s son, imbued the magazine with its joie de vivre, the idea that success can also be enjoyed. “The difference between men and boys,” he once said, “is in the price of their toys.” From his motorcycles and yachts to his hot air balloons and Fabergé eggs, Malcolm ensured that Forbes, more than being just America’s first great business magazine, would be its first great luxury magazine, too. For more than a half-century, Forbes’ luxury lifestyle coverage has helped readers travel smarter, dress better, collect wisely and indulge with wit and elegance, thanks to guiding hands like Christopher Buckley and Malcolm’s son Robert.
We think of this kind of good living as the “Forbes Life,” and for the past five years it has been overseen by Michael Solomon, a man (appropriately) overdressed for any occasion. “ForbesLife
doesn’t necessarily mean spending the most,” says Solomon, who previously worked at style arbiters like Esquire and Vogue. “It means finding the highest quality for every budget.”
Under Solomon’s guidance, ForbesLife has expanded across all our platforms. You can tour the Baselworld watch show via Instagram, learn to prepare omakase with one of the world’s best sushi chefs from a ForbesLife video or buy curated recommendations straight from our website.
And, yes, our magazine readers still get to experience ForbesLife
in print. In this issue, we’ve produced another of our regular minimagazines (beginning on p. 65), for which Solomon has written the exclusive story on the secret history of Steve McQueen’s Rolex Submariner, which will soon go on the block. It’s a fun read— and the kind of whimsical, wonderful item Malcolm would have snapped up in a heartbeat. ForbesLife —randall lane, ChieF Content oFFiCer