Fortune (magazine)

History

Fortune was founded by Time 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, 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. 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 $1 ().

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, full color throughout, and a high-quality cover printed by a special process. Leading graphic designers Leo Lionni and Will Burtin were among Fortune art directors in 1950s and 60s. Fortune was also noted for its color 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 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 in 1923 and Fortune in 1930, Luce went on to launch Life in 1936 and Sports Illustrated 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 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 owned Time Inc., between 1990 and 2014, Fortune articles (as well as those from Money 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. A member of Thailand's wealthiest family, Jiaravanon is affiliated with the Thailand-based conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group, which has holdings in agriculture, telecommunications, retail, pharmaceuticals, and finance.

Since March 2020, access to Fortune.com has been restricted by a paywall. In July 2025, Fortune laid off 10 percent of its staffers. At the time, the magazine had 360 full-time employees.

Fortune Indonesia

Fortune Indonesia is an American global business magazine headquartered in New York City and published for the Indonesian region. It is published by Fortune Media Group Holdings, a global business 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 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
• Fortune China 500
• Fortune Southeast Asia 500
• 40 Under 40
• Fortune Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs
• 100 Best Companies to Work For
• 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 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 (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 (2017–2021)
• Alyson Shontell (2021-present)

Footnotes

References

1. "Audience". [[Time Inc.]].
2. "About Us". Fortune Media IP Limited.
3. Fry, Erika. (June 2, 2014). "What Happened to the First Fortune 500?".
4. Delbridge, Emily. (November 21, 2019). "The 8 Best Business Magazines of 2020". Dotdash.
5. Fortune prospectus. By Henry Luce. ''Fortune'', September 1929, Volume One, Number Zero.
6. Henry Luce & His Time by Joseph Epstein, ''[[Commentary (magazine). Commentary]]'', Vol. 44, No. 5, November 1967.
7. Okrent, Daniel. (September 19, 2005). "How the World Really Works". Fortune.
8. "Current Magazines". ''The New York Times''. February 2, 1930.
9. Massey, Laura. (December 11, 2010). "Fortune". Peter Harrington London.
10. Inglis, Theo. (2019). "Mid-century modern graphic design". Batsford.
11. "Background".
12. Pérez-Peña, Richard. (October 23, 2009). "Fortune Magazine Will Drop From 25 to 18 Issues a Year". The New York Times.
13. Pérez-Peña, Richard. (October 23, 2009). "Fortune Media Kit". The New York Times.
14. "Fortune Magazine Subscription".
15. Deirdre, Carmody. (May 2, 1994). "The Media Business; A Shaper of Magazines Retires". The New York Times.
16. (2014-06-09). "Time Warner completes spinoff of Time Inc. - CBS News".
17. "Other Mergers".
18. "Fortune Magazine: Table of Contents - CNNMoney".
19. "Time Inc. Becomes America's Oldest Startup".
20. "Inside the All-New Fortune.com".
21. (January 31, 2018). "Meredith Corporation Announces Completion Of Time Inc. Acquisition And Reports Fiscal 2018 Second Quarter And First Half Results". Meredith Corporation.
22. Hays, Kali. (February 1, 2018). "Time Inc., Now Meredith and More Changes to Come". [[Women's Wear Daily]].
23. Gold, Howard R.. (February 1, 2018). "Who killed Time Inc.?". [[Columbia Journalism Review]].
24. Pompeo, Joe. (November 9, 2018). "'Everybody's Very, Very Positive About This': Fortune's New Buyer Isn't Marc Benioff—But for $150 Million, Who Cares!".
25. Kelly, Keith J.. (November 9, 2018). "Thai business tycoon buys Fortune magazine for $150 million".
26. Nguyen, Linh. "Fortune Magazine's New Owner Is Member Of Thailand's Richest Family".
27. Roush, Chris. (2018-11-10). "Who is Fortune's new Thai owner?".
28. "Why we launched a paywall".
29. Burch, Sean. (2025-07-21). "Fortune Cuts 10% of Staff, Becomes Latest Media Company Hit With AI-Driven Layoffs".
30. "About Us". Fortune Media IP Limited.
31. (2021-07-28). "Hendra Soeprajitno pimpin Fortune Indonesia".
32. [https://fortune.com/crypto/2023/04/10/fortune-crypto-40-blockchain-companies-nonprofits-decentralized-collectives/ Introducing Fortune’s Crypto 40: Blockchain businesses built to last] JEFF JOHN ROBERTS, Fortune, April 10, 2023.
33. Kaufman, Leslie. (October 31, 2013). "Reshuffling at Time Inc. to Set Table for Spinoff". The New York Times.
34. (July 22, 2014). "Alan Murray Named Editor of Fortune".
35. (March 15, 2017). "Fortune Names a New Editor-in-Chief".
36. "Alyson Shontell". Fortune.