''Fortune'' (stylized in

all caps In typography, text or font in all caps (short for "all capitals") contains capital letters without any lowercase letters. For example: All-caps text can be seen in legal documents, advertisements, newspaper headlines, and the titles on book co ...

) is an American global business magazine headquartered in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. It is published by Fortune Media Group Holdings, a

global business Big business involves large-scale corporate-controlled financial or business activities. As a term, it describes activities that run from "huge transactions" to the more general "doing big things". In corporate jargon, the concept is commonly k ...

media company. The publication was founded by

Henry Luce Henry Robinson Luce (April 3, 1898 – February 28, 1967) was an American magazine magnate who founded ''Time'', ''Life'', '' Fortune'', and ''Sports Illustrated'' magazines. He has been called "the most influential private citizen in the Amer ...

in 1929. The magazine competes with ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' and ''

Bloomberg Businessweek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'' (and before that ''Business Week'' and ''The Business Week''), is an American monthly business magazine published 12 times a year. The magazine debuted in New York City in Septembe ...

'' in the national business magazine category and distinguishes itself with long, in-depth feature articles. The magazine regularly publishes ranked lists including ranking companies by

revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of product (business), goods and services related to the primary operations of a business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some compan ...

such as in the ''Fortune'' 500 that it has published annually since 1955, and in the ''Fortune'' Global 500. The magazine is also known for its annual ''Fortune Investor's Guide''.

History

''Fortune'' was founded by ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine co-founder Henry Luce in 1929, who declared it as "the Ideal Super-Class Magazine", a "distinguished and de luxe" publication "vividly portraying, interpreting and recording the Industrial Civilization".

Briton Hadden Briton Hadden (February 18, 1898 – February 27, 1929) was the co-founder of ''Time'' magazine with his Yale classmate Henry Luce. He was ''Time''s first editor and the inventor of its revolutionary writing style, known as Timestyle. Thoug ...

, Luce's business partner, was not enthusiastic about the idea – which Luce intended 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 occurred, marking the onset of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. In a memo to the

Time Inc. Time Inc. (also referred to as Time & Life, Inc. later on, after their two onetime flagship magazine publications) was an American worldwide mass media corporation founded on November 28, 1922, by Henry Luce and Briton Hadden and based in New ...

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 Thomas Maitland Cleland (August 18, 1880 – November 9, 1964) was an American book designer, painter, illustrator, and type designer. Early life and education Thomas Maitland Cleland was born August 18, 1880, in Brooklyn, New York. Cleland st ...

. Single copies of the first issue cost US$1 (). 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 the magazine must really have worthwhile content. 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.. ''Fortune'' was also noted for its photography, featuring the work of

Margaret Bourke-White Margaret Bourke-White (; June 14, 1904 – August 27, 1971) was an American documentary photography, documentary photographer and photojournalist. She was known as an architectural and commercial photographer for the first half of her career, ...

Ansel Adams Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984) was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his Monochrome photography, black-and-white images of the American West. He helped found Group f/64, an association ...

, and others.

Walker Evans Walker Evans (November 3, 1903 – April 10, 1975) was an American photographer and photojournalist best known for his work for the Resettlement Administration and the Farm Security Administration (FSA) documenting the effects of the Great ...

served as its photography editor from 1945 to 1965. During the Great Depression, the magazine developed a reputation for its

social conscience A social conscience is "a sense of responsibility or concern for the Social issue, problems and Social justice, injustices of society". While our conscience is related to moral conduct in our day-to-day lives with respect to individuals, social c ...

, for

and

's color photographs, and for a team of writers including

James Agee James Rufus Agee ( ; November 27, 1909 – May 16, 1955) was an American novelist, journalist, poet, screenwriter and film critic. In the 1940s, writing for ''Time'', he was one of the most influential film critics in the United States. His autob ...

Archibald MacLeish Archibald MacLeish (May 7, 1892 – April 20, 1982) was an American poet and writer, who was associated with the modernist school of poetry. MacLeish studied English at Yale University and law at Harvard University. He enlisted in and saw action ...

John Kenneth Galbraith John Kenneth Galbraith (October 15, 1908 – April 29, 2006), also known as Ken Galbraith, was a Canadian-American economist, diplomat, public official, and intellectual. His books on economic topics were bestsellers from the 1950s through the ...

, and

Alfred Kazin Alfred Kazin (June 5, 1915 – June 5, 1998) was an American writer and literary critic. His literary reviews appeared in ''The New York Times'', the '' New York Herald-Tribune'', ''The New Republic'' and ''The New Yorker''. He wrote often a ...

, hired specifically for their writing abilities. The magazine became an important leg of Luce's media empire; after the successful launch of ''

'' in 1923 and ''Fortune'' in 1930, Luce went on to launch ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'' 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 a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' 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 (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...

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 ( doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City. It was established as Time Warne ...

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 are: m ...

'' 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 Meredith Corporation was an American media conglomerate based in Des Moines, Iowa, that owned newspapers, magazines, television stations, and websites. Its publications had a readership of more than 120 million and paid circulation of more than ...

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

was selling ''Fortune'' to Thai billionaire Chatchaval Jiaravanon for $150 million. Jiaravanon is affiliated with the Thailand-based conglomerate

Charoen Pokphand Group The Charoen Pokphand Group Company, Ltd. (CP) (; ) is a Thai conglomerate based in Bangkok. It is Thailand's largest private company and the largest privately held Royal Warrant holder of the Thai Royal Family. The company describes itself as hav ...

, which has holdings in agriculture, telecommunications, retail, pharmaceutical, and finance. Since March 4, 2020, access to Fortune.com has been restricted by a

paywall A paywall is a method of restricting access to content (media), content, with a purchase or a subscription business model, paid subscription, especially news. Beginning in the mid-2010s, newspapers started implementing paywalls on their website ...

. In July 2025, ''Fortune'' laid off 10% of staffers. At the time, the magazine had 360 full-time employees.

Fortune Indonesia

''Fortune Indonesia'' is an American global business magazine headquartered in

and published for the Indonesian region. It is published by Fortune Media Group Holdings, a

media company. FORTUNE Indonesia is available in print version every month as well as an online news portal. Currently, Fortune Indonesia is led by Editor-in-Chief Hendra Soeprajitno.

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 include ' ...

field, for example, it publishes a list of the Best Companies to Work For. Lists include companies ranked in order of

gross revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of product (business), goods and services related to the primary operations of a business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some compan ...

and business profile, as well as business leaders: * ''Fortune'' 500 * ''Fortune'' 1000 * ''Fortune'' Global 500 * ''Fortune India'' 500 *Fortune China 500 *Fortune Southeast Asia 500 *

40 Under 40 ''Fortune'' magazine's 40 Under 40 is a list of individuals the publication considers to be the most influential young leaders for the year. The list has existed in two phases: From 1999 to 2003, the list was presented purely as a numeric rankin ...

*''Fortune'' Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs *

100 Best Companies to Work For The 100 Best Companies to Work For is an annual list published by '' Fortune'' magazine that ranks U.S. companies based on employee happiness and perks''.'' Like the ''Fortune'' 500, the list includes both public and private companies. The li ...

*World's Most Admired Companies *100 Fastest Growing Companies *The Unicorn List *Businessperson of the Year *Change the World *The World's 50 Greatest Leaders *The Ledger 40 Under 40 *Future 50 *100 Best Workplaces For Millennials *100 Best Workplaces For Women *50 Best Workplaces for New College Graduates *Best Workplaces for Diversity *50 Best Places to Live for Families *Crypto 40

Editors

There have been 20 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 editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

role at Time Inc. in October 2013, the top editor's title was changed from "managing editor" to "editor" in 2014. The present title is "editor-in-chief". * Parker Lloyd-Smith (1929–1931) * Ralph Ingersoll (1932–1935) *

Eric Hodgins Eric Francis Hodgins (March 2, 1899 – January 7, 1971) was the American author of the popular novel '' Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House'', illustrated by William Steig. Biography Hodgins was born in Detroit, Michigan to the Episcop ...

(1935–1937) *

Russell Davenport Russell Wheeler Davenport (1899 – April 19, 1954) was an American editor, political consultant, and writer. Early life and education Davenport was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the son of Russell W. Davenport Sr., a vice president of Bethl ...

(1937–1940) * Richardson Wood (1940–1941) * Ralph D. "Del" Paine, Jr. (1941–1953) *

Hedley Donovan Hedley Donovan (May 24, 1914 – August 13, 1990) was editor in chief of Time Inc. from 1964 to 1979. In this capacity, he oversaw all of the company's magazine publications, including ''Time'', ''Life'', ''Fortune'', ''Sports Illustrated'', ''M ...

(1953–1959) *

Duncan Norton-Taylor Duncan Norton-Taylor was an American journalist who was a senior editor at ''Time'' magazine and managing editor at ''Fortune'' magazine from the 1940s through the 1960s. Background Norton-Taylor graduated Brown University, where he worked at T ...

(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 Clifton Leaf is an American journalist and was the editor-in-chief of ''Fortune'' magazine from March 2017 to July 2021. He graduated from Williams College. Awards * 2005 Gerald Loeb Award The Gerald Loeb Awards, also referred to as the Ger ...

(2017–2021) * Alyson Shontell (2021-present)

Footnotes

External links

* {{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