| Steve Forbes | |
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Forbes in June 2009 |
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| Born | July 18, 1947 Morristown, New Jersey |
| Occupation | Publisher |
| Political party | Republican |
Malcolm Stevenson "Steve" Forbes, Jr. (born July 18, 1947) is an American editor, publisher, and businessman. He is the editor-in-chief of business magazine Forbes as well as president and chief executive officer of its publisher, Forbes Inc. He was a Republican candidate in the U.S. Presidential primaries in 1996[1] and 2000. He is the son of longtime Forbes magazine publisher Malcolm Forbes and the grandson of that publication's founder, B.C. Forbes.
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Forbes was born in Morristown, New Jersey, the son of Roberta Remsen (née Laidlaw) and Malcolm Forbes.[2] [3] He is married to Sabina Beekman, and they have five daughters; Charlotte, Claire, Ava, Johnnie, and Violet. Forbes attended Far Hills Country Day School. He graduated cum laude in 1966 from Brooks School in North Andover, Massachusetts, and was in the Princeton class of 1970.[4] While at Princeton, Forbes founded his first magazine, Business Today, with two other students. Business Today is currently the largest student-run magazine in the world.[5]
In 1996, years after the death of his father, he changed the name credited to him on the Forbes magazine masthead from Malcolm S. Forbes Jr. to the name he had been known as throughout childhood, Steve Forbes. Forbes served as an occasional guest host on the show History's Business on the television channel History.
He was awarded an honorary doctorate in economics from Stevenson University on April 30, 2009.
Forbes is a member of Alpha Kappa Psi and Tau Kappa Epsilon.[6]
In 1985, President Ronald Reagan appointed Forbes as head of the Board of International Broadcasting (BIB), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
He helped craft Christine Todd Whitman's[7] plan for a 30 percent cut in New Jersey's income tax over three years, and this plan proved to be a major factor in her victory over incumbent Governor James Florio.[8][9] After her election, Whitman proposed these tax cuts and they were enacted into law. Forbes made an issue of his role in these New Jersey tax cuts in his subsequent campaigns for the presidency.
Forbes entered the Republican primaries for President of the United States in 1996 and 2000, primarily running on a campaign to establish a flat income tax. He also supported the ideas of re-introducing 4 1/2% mortgages and term limits in 1996, but dropped both in 2000 (as they were minor planks in his overall platform).
When Forbes ran for president in 1996 and 2000, he sold some of his Forbes Inc. voting shares to other family members to help finance his run. He did not come close to securing the Republican nomination, despite winning the Arizona and Delaware Primaries in 1996 and getting some significant shares of the vote in other primaries. His stiff campaigning style was a major factor; Time Magazine called his stumping a "comedy-club impression of what would happen if some mad scientist decided to construct a dork robot."[10] After dropping out early in the 2000 primary season, he returned to heading the magazine and company. During the 1996 campaign, insiders at Fortune alleged that stories about Forbes' advertisers became favorably biased toward them.[11]
Major issues Forbes has supported include free trade, health savings accounts, and allowing people to opt out 75% of Social Security payroll taxes into Personal Retirement Accounts (PRAs). He supports traditional Republican Party policies such as downsizing government agencies to balance the budget, tough crime laws and support for the death penalty, and school vouchers, opposition to gun control and most government regulation of the environment, as well as drug legalization and same-sex marriage.[12] This last was despite his father's increasingly flamboyant gay lifestyle before his death.[13] In terms of foreign policy, he called for a "US not UN foreign policy" (which is composed of anti-International Monetary Fund sentiments, pro-Israeli sentiment, opposition to Most Favored Nation status for the People's Republic of China, and anti-UN sentiment.) His flat tax plan has changed slightly. In 1996 he supported a flat tax of 17% on all personal and corporate earned income (unearned income such as capital gains, pensions, inheritance, and savings would be exempt.) However, he supported keeping the first $33,000 of income exempt. In 2000 he maintained the same plan, but instead of each person receiving an exemption of $33,000, it more closely resembled the Armey Plan (Forbes's version called for a $13,000 per adult and $5,000 per dependent deduction). Forbes himself is very wealthy, with a net worth in 1996 of $430 million.[1] Although Forbes publishes the list of the 400 wealthiest men and women in the U.S., Forbes conspicuously exempts himself from such disclosure.[14] In response to this criticism, Forbes promised in his 2000 campaign to exempt himself from the benefits of the flat tax, although he did support the repeal of the 16th Amendment in a debate with Alan Keyes the previous year.
In his 2000 campaign, Forbes professed his support for social conservatism along with his supply-side economics. Despite holding opposite positions in 1996, for the 2000 campaign, Forbes announced he was adamantly opposed to abortion and supported prayer in public schools. The previous year Forbes had issued a statement saying he would no longer donate money to Princeton University due to its hiring of philosopher Peter Singer, who views personhood as being limited to 'sentient' beings and therefore considers some disabled people and all infants to lack this status. Steve Forbes was one of the signers of the Statement of Principles of Project for the New American Century (PNAC) on June 3, 1997.
In 1996, Forbes campaigned on behalf of Ron Paul in the congressional election for Texas's 14th congressional district.[15]
In December 2006, Forbes joined the board of directors of the advocacy organization FreedomWorks. He is also a member of the board of trustees of the Heritage Foundation, an influential Washington, D.C.-based public policy research institute.[16] He is a frequent panelist on the television program Forbes on Fox, which also features members of the Forbes magazine staff, and is shown Saturday mornings on Fox News Channel at 11:00 am EST.
On March 28, 2007, Forbes joined Rudolph Giuliani's campaign for the 2008 presidential election, serving as a National Co-Chair and Senior Policy Advisor. Later in the 2008 presidential campaign, Forbes served as John McCain's Economic Adviser on Taxes, Energy and the Budget during McCain's bid for the 2008 Presidential election.[17]
In December 2009, Forbes, in a nationwide mailer for the National Right To Work Committee, opposed union membership for police officers and firefighters, terming their representatives, "union czars," and requested that mailer recipients contact their congressional representatives with regard to HR 413. In 2010 Forbes endorsed Peter Schiff.
In 2011, Forbes has endorsed Texas Governor Rick Perry for President in 2012.[18]
On January 7, 2010 Forbes announced his endorsement of Dr. Rand Paul, Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.[19]
On January 28, 2010 he formally endorsed Marco Rubio, Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in the State of Florida.[20]
He endorsed incumbent U.S. Senator John McCain, Republican of the State of Arizona for re-election in 2010.[21]
On July 28, 2010, he formally endorsed Peter Schiff, Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in the State of Connecticut.[22]
On August 13, 2010, he announced his endorsement of Jim Huffman, Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in the State of Oregon.[23]
On August 26, 2010, Forbes formally endorsed Dr. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2nd Congressional District of Iowa [24]
On September 2, 2010, Forbes formally endorsed State Representative Justin Amash, Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in Michigan's 3rd congressional district.[25]
On October 12, 2010, Forbes formally endorsed Bill Hudak, Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in Massachusetts's 6th congressional district.[26]
On December 29, 2011 Forbes endorsed Rick Perry on the Sean Hannity Show.
Forbes was listed by Campaignmoney.com as the 11th most important contributor of political funds in the United States, for donations from 1999 to 2011, with 15 donations totaling over $7 million. The bulk of these monies was directed towards his own presidential campaign in 2000.[27]
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