B. C. Forbes

Bertie Charles Forbes (/fɔːrbz/; May 14, 1880 – May 6, 1954) was a Scottish-American financial journalist and author who founded Forbes magazine.^[1]

B. C. Forbes
Forbes c. 1917
Born	Bertie Charles Forbes (1880-05-14)May 14, 1880 New Deer, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Died	May 6, 1954(1954-05-06) (aged 73) New York City, U.S.
Alma mater	University of St Andrews
Occupations	Journalist author publisher
Spouse	Adelaide Mary Stevenson
Signature

Early life and education

Forbes was born in New Deer, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, the son of Agnes (Moir) and Robert Forbes, a storekeeper and tailor at Whitehill, one of their ten children.^[2] Forbes attended University College, Dundee, which was then part of the University of St Andrews.

Career

In 1897, Forbes worked as a reporter and editorial writer with a local newspaper. In 1901, when he moved to Johannesburg, South Africa, where he worked on the Rand Daily Mail under its first editor, Edgar Wallace.^[3]

In 1904, he emigrated to New York City where he was employed as a writer and financial editor at the Journal of Commerce before joining the Hearst chain of newspapers as a syndicated columnist in 1911. After two years, he became the business and financial editor at Hearst's New York American, where he remained until 1916.

He founded Forbes magazine in 1917 and remained the magazine's editor-in-chief until his death in New York City in 1954, though he was assisted in his later years by his two eldest sons, Bruce Charles Forbes and Malcolm Stevenson Forbes.

Forbes was the founder of the Investors League in 1942.

Death

He died on May 6, 1954.^[1][4] In 1988,^[2] his body was returned to his native Scotland, and lies buried in the New Deer Churchyard at Hill of Culsh in New Deer, Aberdeenshire. While living abroad, he returned to Buchan every two years, staying in the Cruden Bay Hotel, "to entertain people of Whitehill to a picnic". It was a tradition revived by his son, Malcolm, in 1987.^[2]

Published works

Forbes authored nine books:

• Finance, Business and the Business of Life (1915)
• Men Who Are Making America (1917)
• Keys to Success or Personal Efficiency (1918)
• Forbes Epigrams (1922)
• Men Who are Making the West (1923)
• Automotive Giants of America (1925)
• How to Get the Most Out of Business (1927)
• 101 Unusual Experiences (1952)
• America's Twelve Master Salesmen (1952)

References

1. "Forbes, Head Of Business Magazine, Dies". Chicago Tribune. May 7, 1954. p. 28. Retrieved January 25, 2025 – via Newspaper.somc.
2. McKean (1990), p. 78
3. "Forbes, B. C. (1880–1954), financial journalist and publisher".
4. "B. C. Forbes Dies; Publisher, Was 73; Financial, Business Writer Had Magazine 30 Years, Was Syndicated Columnist". The New York Times. May 7, 1954. p. 24. Retrieved October 3, 2010.

Bibliography

• McKean, Charles (1990), Banff & Buchan, Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, ISBN 978-1-85158-231-0

External links

• Works by or about B. C. Forbes at the Internet Archive
• Online Books by B. C. Forbes at The Online Books Page
• Bertie Charles Forbes papers at Syracuse University Special Collections Research Center