Miguel R. Forbes

Miguel R. Forbes
Born	New York, New York
Alma mater	New York University (M.S., Publishing; B.A., English)[1]
Occupation	Publisher

Miguel R. Forbes, son of Lydia and Robert Forbes, is an American entrepreneur.^[2]

Personal Life and Education

Forbes is a native New Yorker born in Lenox Hill Hospital and raised in Manhattan. He attended the Rudolf Steiner School on East 79th Street and later graduated from Saint David's School on East 89th Street in New York City. Forbes has a B.A. in English and an M.S. in Publishing from New York University.^[3]

Publishing career

Forbes formerly served as President of Worldwide Development at Forbes, Inc.^[4] Prior to that, he was President of Forbes Television & Licensing. In these executive roles, Forbes was focused on expanding the Forbes brands worldwide through new strategic business opportunities.^[5] Forbes worked to identify potential business partners that align with the Forbes brand and also to ensure the ongoing success of these partnerships by ensuring the necessary resources were available for each.^[6]

While at Forbes media, Forbes was appointed Forbes Vice President of Business Development in 2000 and launched nine foreign editions of Forbes in Korea, Russia, China, Arabia, Israel, Poland, Turkey, Romania, and Croatia. More recent Forbes editions spearheaded by Forbes include Argentina, Africa, Brazil, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, French Africa, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Latvia, Slovakia, Ukraine, and a limited edition in Greece.^[7]

During his tenure at Forbes Media, Forbes was focused on expanding his company’s brand throughout Europe. In March 2013, Forbes was instrumental in launching a Spanish-language version of Forbes in Spain, the first local edition of Forbes in Western Europe. According to Forbes, the strategy was to launch in a market in the process of recovery.^[8] In July 2013, Forbes announced that Forbes' latest local language edition, Forbes Hungary, would launch in late 2013. This launch continues Forbes’s expansion of his company’s brand in Eastern Europe.^[9]

Additional international editions of Forbes launched in Mexico in November 2012 and Vietnam in July 2013.^[10] On the horizon are Chile, Colombia, Peru, Mongolia, and Spain. In all, Forbes is now published in 49 countries and 20 languages. According to Forbes, aggressive growth is expected to continue in the near future.^[7]

Forbes’ accomplishments in television include launching “Forbes on Fox,” a critically acclaimed weekly television program on Fox News, in May 2001. He became Executive Producer of Forbes SportsMoney, a series developed in partnership with the YES Network in 2008 that focuses on sports business news and is hosted by Bob Lorenz. The series has won a New York Emmy award for Forbes in the Business/Consumer: Program/Special category for three years in a row, from 2012-2014.^[11][12] Additionally, he initiated a number of Forbes specials produced for E! Entertainment Television that aired in 2007, which ultimately attracted 47 million viewers.^[3]

Forbes first joined Forbes in 1996. One of his early contributions was as a co-founder of Forbes.com.^[13] He is currently a contributor on the Forbes blog network, writing about foreign markets, leadership, and entrepreneurship.^[14] An example is Forbes’ interview with Howard Buffett about his novel approach to philanthropy and future role with Berkshire Hathaway.^[15]

During his tenure at Forbes Media, Forbes was also a regular participant in events designed to foster collaboration and the exchange of ideas within the global business community, such as the 13th Annual Forbes Global CEO Conference held in Bali in September 2013.^[16]

Philanthropy

In 2005, Forbes became a Young Global Leader, a division of the World Economic Forum which consists of under-forty-year-old leaders from all around the world and a variety of disciplines and sectors. These leaders collaborate on an action plan for a vision of what the world could be like in the year 2020.^[17]

In 2012, Forbes Media co-hosted the Forbes 400 Summit on Philanthropy with Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Oprah Winfrey and 161 other billionaires who gathered to discuss how to solve some of the world’s most difficult issues.^[18] He hosted the annual Forbes 400 Charity Poker Tournament in 2010, which raised $1.2 million to be split among 13 charities.^[19]

In 2013, Forbes was appointed to the New York University President’s Global Council by university president John Sexton. As an inaugural member of the council, Forbes joins with other global leaders to advise Sexton on the challenges and opportunities NYU faces in its efforts to advance its mission throughout the world.^[20]

Entrepreneurship

Forbes extended the Forbes brand into financial services including Forbes Family Trust (FFT) and Forbes Private Capital Group.^[21] FFT, which focuses on providing services to high-net-worth clientele, merged with LGL partners in January 2013.^[22] Forbes Private Capital Group raises capital for hedge funds, private equity funds and real estate funds, and also raises funds for direct investments.

Forbes also co-founded Planetary Power, a sustainable energy company, in 2007 to address the world’s energy challenges with affordable renewable power available around the clock.^[23] In 2011, Forbes co-founded Startle.com, online home of the Forbes Travel Guide,^[24] with Jeff Arnold (founder of WebMD) and is a member of the board of directors.

Prior to departing Forbes Media, Forbes has entered the commercial real estate market with the September 2013 announcement of the first Forbes Media Tower to be built in the Philippines. The tower will be built in Makati in partnership with Century Properties.^[25] According to Forbes, additional Forbes Media Towers, offering office space, state-of-the-art communications technology, transportation services, and other amenities to world business leaders, are planned for the near future in cities strategically located throughout the world to facilitate international business and trade.^[16]

Forbes also initiated a partnership in 2014 that brought the Forbes brand into the mobile commerce market. A licensing agreement between Forbes and payment solutions provider Lotaris created Forbes Digital Commerce, which focuses on mobile payment applications and works with such platforms as MasterCard’s MasterPass in-app payment solution.^[26]

References

External links

• Forbes.com
• Forbes Family Trust
• Planetary Power
• Startle