Publisher Malcolm Forbes Dies at 70
Flamboyant publisher Malcolm Forbes, whose lavish life style catapulted him into celebrity circles, died Saturday of a heart attack while taking a nap at his New Jersey home. He was 70.
The publisher of the business magazine that bears his name died at Timberfield, his estate in Far Hills, N.J., said William Donald Garson, director of corporate communications for Forbes Inc.
The spokesman said Forbes, who had not experienced any recent health problems, had returned home Saturday morning from a charity bridge tournament in London when he decided to take a late-morning nap. When the butler tried unsuccessfully to rouse Forbes in the early afternoon, a physician was summoned to the home. An hour later, he was pronounced dead.
Forbes’ quiet death was a sharp contrast to his colorful life, marked by feats of derring-do as a motorcyclist, hot-air balloonist and high-profile party-giver. Frequently, he was accompanied by celebrity friends, including actress Elizabeth Taylor, whom Forbes was said to be romancing.
Forbes took great pains to maintain the “Happy Millionaire” image that has become part and parcel of his magazine’s success. Chief executives of big companies admired him--and often bought ads from him--perhaps less for his business skills than because he lived the way that they wish they could.
Last August, Forbes threw a $2-million celebrity-studded birthday bash for himself at his palace in Morocco. Forbes said he gave the party, which some criticized as extravagant, because “I just wasn’t that confident I would be here or, if here, capable of enjoying my 100th. So I decided to have it on the 70th.”
Former President Ronald Reagan and wife Nancy issued a statement mourning Forbes’ passing.
“Malcolm Forbes was a man of unequaled accomplishment and integrity. Much more than just a successful businessman, he was patron of the arts, an active and deeply respected member of the community, a compassionate and caring citizen and a man who lived life to its fullest, “ Reagan said. “He was always a kind and gracious host and we feel we have lost a dear friend. Malcolm Forbes had a wonderful impact on all who had the privilege to know him.”
New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, a longtime friend, said: “He made his mark through integrity, toughness and a wonderful sense of humor. We will miss him.”
Other New Yorkers reacted to Forbes’ death with sadness. Real estate developer Donald Trump said through a spokesman: “Malcolm Forbes was an extraordinary and positive force in America’s business and social life. His loss takes excitement, creativity and genuine business leadership away from American business.”
Experts have estimated Forbes’ fortune at between $750 million and $1.25 billion. Garson said Forbes’ oldest son, Malcolm Stevenson Forbes Jr., is expected to assume control of the corporation. The younger Forbes, 42, who is known by friends as Steve, currently is the firm’s president.
Steve Forbes stands to inherit 51% voting control of the corporation as well as a potential tax nightmare. State and federal taxes on big estates are levied at about 55% and the 1987 tax reform legislation closed loopholes that had eased the burden on family businesses.
“All the children said, when they found out, is that they’ve lost a loving father who they will miss dearly,” Garson said.
In addition to Steve, Forbes is survived by sons Robert, Christopher and Timothy and a daughter, Moira Forbes Mumma. He is also survived by a brother, Robert, and his former wife, Roberta.
The couple divorced in 1985 after 39 years of marriage. It was reported to be a friendly split after years of going their own ways.
Arrangements are incomplete. Garson said services will not be formalized until Sunday afternoon or Monday.
Leonard H. Yablon, a longtime acquaintance of Forbes’ who is the firm’s executive vice president, said his friend had “great foresight and made provisions for the succession,” naming his oldest son to succeed him.
“He was the one who thought it important to carry on,” Yablon said from his Scarsdale, N.Y., home.
“He had great drive and a great love for life. What else can I say? He’ll be missed,” said Yablon, who had known Forbes since 1950.
Garson said Forbes was in London for a charity bridge tournament that pitted a team of American corporate leaders against a group of British lawmakers.
“He was pretty good at bridge,” said Garson, who added that the Americans won the tourney.
Malcolm Stevenson Forbes was born rich on Aug. 19, 1919, and spent his life getting richer.
The son of B.C. (Bertie) and Adelaide Forbes, Malcolm graduated from Princeton University in 1941.
Within days he was owner and publisher of the Fairfield Times in Lancaster, Ohio. The weekly newspaper prospered and the next year he founded another, the Lancaster Tribune.
But World War II interrupted his journalism career. Forbes was drafted into the Army not long after Pearl Harbor and served as a sergeant in a heavy machine gun section in the 334th Infantry, fighting in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany. Forbes won the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart on the eve of the Battle of the Bulge.
After the war, Forbes joined the family business publishing Forbes magazine, which his father founded.
As Bertie Forbes’ third son, Malcolm consolidated his ownership of Forbes Inc. by buying out other family members after his brother Bruce died of cancer in 1964. Another brother, Duncan, died in a car accident at age 16.
Forbes at his death owned about 85% of Forbes Inc. Eight years ago he began distributing shares to his sons in rough proportion to their participation in the business. According to Forbes, his married daughter had no interest in the business.
Forbes in 1948 founded Nation’s Heritage, a bimonthly publication. The following year he received the Freedom Foundation Medal for publishing a six-volume series on American heritage.
Forbes’ political career began in 1949 with his election to the Borough Council in Bernardsville, N.J. He won by a record plurality when he ran for the New Jersey state Senate in 1951. Six years later he received the Republican nomination for governor of New Jersey, a race he lost to Democrat Robert B. Meyner.
Forbes began to diversify the interests of Forbes Inc. in 1969, but has been criticized for his conservative moves when other media companies have been booming with cable television and other ventures.
One of his earliest moves was to buy a 170,000-acre ranch in Colorado. Then he entered the motorcycle field with the purchase of the Hank Slegers Co., forming Slegers & Forbes Inc., the largest motorcycle dealership on the East Coast.
Forbes Inc. also owns American Heritage magazine and is launching two new magazines, Egg, a style magazine for the arty crowd, and Forbes FYI, a life-style quarterly for executives. The company and Malcolm Forbes himself owned considerable collections of real estate and art, including 12 bejeweled Faberge eggs.
For many years, Forbes entertained a fraternity of corporate executives royally on his succession of yachts, all named Highlander, and in a growing collection of mansions and retreats that ranged from his Morocco pleasure palace, to his “ancestral” estate in New Jersey, to an island in Fiji that is open to the paying public as a luxury resort.
Mixing high adventure--a boat trip up the Amazon, motorcycling through China--with baronial splendor, Forbes has kept his cachet high.
On the occasion of his three-day 70th birthday bash last August, Forbes said of the hoopla: “Somebody asked me, ‘How do you defend it?’ It’s difficult.”
“I don’t feel guilty about it. I feel grateful that we can do it,” Forbes said, noting that he had given several million dollars each year to worthy causes.
