''Fortune'' is an American
multinational business magazine headquartered in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. It is published by Fortune Media Group Holdings, owned by Thai businessman Chatchaval Jiaravanon. The publication was founded by
Henry Luce in 1929. The magazine competes with ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
'' and ''
Bloomberg Businessweek
''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...
'' in the national business magazine category and distinguishes itself with long, in-depth feature articles.
The magazine regularly publishes ranked lists, including the
''Fortune'' 500, a ranking of companies by
revenue
In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services related to the primary operations of the business.
Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some companies receive rev ...
that it has published annually since 1955. The magazine is also known for its annual ''Fortune Investor's Guide''.
History
''Fortune'' was founded by ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...
'' magazine co-founder Henry Luce in 1929 as "the Ideal Super-Class Magazine", a "distinguished and de luxe" publication "vividly portraying, interpreting and recording the Industrial Civilization".
Briton Hadden, Luce's business partner, was not enthusiastic about the idea – which Luce originally thought to title ''Power'' – but Luce went forward with it after Hadden's sudden death on February 27, 1929.
In late October 1929, the
Wall Street Crash of 1929
The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange coll ...
occurred, marking the onset of the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. In a memo to the
Time Inc. board in November 1929, Luce wrote: "We will not be over-optimistic. We will recognize that this business slump may last as long as an entire year."
The publication made its official debut in February 1930. Its editor was Luce, managing editor Parker Lloyd-Smith, and art director
Thomas Maitland Cleland.
Single copies of the first issue cost US$1 ($ in ).
An urban legend says that Cleland mocked up the cover of the first issue with the $1 price because no one had yet decided how much to charge; the magazine was printed before anyone realized it, and when people saw it for sale, they thought that the magazine must really have worthwhile content. In fact, there were 30,000 subscribers who had already signed up to receive that initial 184-page issue. By 1937, the number of subscribers had grown to 460,000, and the magazine had turned half million dollars in annual profit.
At a time when business publications were little more than numbers and statistics printed in black and white, ''Fortune'' was an oversized 11" × 14", using creamy heavy paper, and art on a cover printed by a special process.
[Background]
. ''Fortune'' was also noted for its photography, featuring the work of
Margaret Bourke-White,
Ansel Adams, and others.
Walker Evans served as its photography editor from 1945 to 1965.
During the Great Depression, the magazine developed a reputation for its
social conscience, for
Walker Evans and
Margaret Bourke-White's color photographs, and for a team of writers including
James Agee,
Archibald MacLeish,
John Kenneth Galbraith, and
Alfred Kazin, hired specifically for their writing abilities. The magazine became an important leg of Luce's media empire; after the successful launch of ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...
'' in 1923 and ''Fortune'' in 1930, Luce went on to launch ''
Life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energy ...
'' in 1936 and ''
Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence tw ...
'' in 1954.
From its launch in 1930 to 1978, ''Fortune'' was published monthly. In January 1978, it began publishing biweekly. In October 2009, citing declining
advertising
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
revenue and
circulation, ''Fortune'' began publishing every three weeks. As of 2018, ''Fortune'' is published 14 times a year.
Marshall Loeb was named managing editor in 1986. During his tenure at ''Fortune'', Loeb was credited with expanding the traditional focus on business and the economy with added graphs, charts, and tables, as well as the addition of articles on topics such as executive life and social issues connected to the world of business, including the effectiveness of public schools and on homelessness.
During the years when
Time Warner
Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States.
It was originally established in 1972 by ...
owned Time Inc., ''Fortune'' articles (as well as those from ''
Money
Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money ar ...
'' magazine) were hosted at
CNNMoney.com.
In June 2014, after Time Inc. spun off from its corporate parent, ''Fortune'' launched its own website at Fortune.com.
On November 26, 2017, it was announced that
Meredith Corporation would acquire Time Inc. in a $2.8 billion deal. The acquisition was completed on January 31, 2018.
On November 9, 2018, it was announced that
Meredith Corporation was selling ''Fortune'' to Thai billionaire Chatchaval Jiaravanon for $150 million. Jiaravanon is affiliated with the Thailand-based conglomerate
Charoen Pokphand Group, which has holdings in agriculture, telecommunications, retail, pharmaceutical, and finance.
Since March 4, 2020, access to Fortune.com has been restricted by a
paywall.
Lists
''Fortune'' regularly publishes ranked lists. In the
human resources
Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms includ ...
field, for example, it publishes a list of the
Best Companies to Work For. Lists include companies ranked in order of
gross revenue and business profile, as well as business leaders:
*
''Fortune'' 500
*
''Fortune'' 1000
*
''Fortune'' Global 500
*
''Fortune India'' 500
*
40 Under 40
*
''Fortune'' Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs
*
100 Best Companies to Work ForWorld's Most Admired Companies100 Fastest Growing CompaniesThe Unicorn ListBusinessperson of the YearChange the WorldThe World's 50 Greatest LeadersThe Ledger 40 Under 40Future 50100 Best Workplaces For Millennials100 Best Workplaces For Women50 Best Workplaces for New College GraduatesBest Workplaces for Diversity
Editors
There have been 19 top editors since ''Fortune'' was conceived in 1929. Following the elimination of the
editor-in-chief
An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies.
The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...
role at Time Inc. in October 2013, the top editor's title was changed from "managing editor" to "editor" in 2014.
* Parker Lloyd-Smith (1929–1931)
*
Ralph Ingersoll (1932–1935)
*
Eric Hodgins (1935–1937)
*
Russell Davenport (1937–1940)
* Richardson Wood (1940–1941)
*
Ralph D. "Del" Paine, Jr. (1941–1953)
*
Hedley Donovan (1953–1959)
*
Duncan Norton-Taylor (1959–1965)
* Louis Banks (1965–1970)
* Robert Lubar (1970–1980)
*
William S. Rukeyser (1980–1986)
*
Marshall Loeb (1986–1994)
*
Walter Kiechel III (1994–1995)
* John Huey (1995–2001)
* Richard "Rik" Kirkland (2001–2005)
* Eric Pooley (2005–2006)
*
Andrew "Andy" Serwer (2006–2014)
* Alan Murray (2014–2017)
*
Clifton Leaf (2017 to present)
See also
*
''Fortune'' Battle of the Corporate Bands, an annual music competition for amateur company-sponsored bands
*
List of United States magazines
Footnotes
Further reading
* James S. Miller, "White-Collar Excavations: ''Fortune Magazine'' and the Invention of the Industrial Folk". ''American Periodicals''. vol. 13 (2003), pp. 84–104
In JSTOR
External links
*
''Fortune en Español''''Fortune India''''Fortune China''''Fortune Turkey''''Fortune Mexico''List of 100 Best Companies to Work For*
{{Fortune (magazine), state=expanded
Business magazines published in the United States
Monthly magazines published in the United States
English-language magazines
Magazines established in 1929
Magazines published in New York City
1929 establishments in New York (state)
Magazines formerly owned by Meredith Corporation
Biweekly magazines published in the United States