Steve Forbes
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Malcolm Stevenson "Steve" Forbes Jr. (born July 18, 1947), is the son of Malcolm Forbes and the editor-in-chief of business magazine Forbes as well as president and chief executive officer of its publisher, Forbes Inc. He was a candidate in the U.S. Presidential primaries in 1996 and 2000.
Only 16 when the death of his uncle Bruce Forbes left his father in sole control of the company, Steve has spent essentially his whole career there, becoming president of Forbes Inc. in 1980 and succeeding as editor-in-chief on his father's death in 1990. His brothers Christopher Forbes, vice chairman, Robert Forbes and Timothy Forbes have all long worked for the magazine or at least the parent company as well. Malcolm Forbes left Steve 51% of the voting shares, but a minority of the non-voting shares, in Forbes Inc., and announced this well in advance, as he wanted the company to have a clear leader.
Forbes entered the Republican primaries for President of the United States in 1996 and 2000, primarily running on a campaign to establish a flat income tax. Observers noted that he stood to save substantial amounts in taxes if such a proposal was enacted. Indeed, Forbes himself is quite wealthy, with a net worth upwards of $435 million. In response to this criticism, Forbes promised in his 2000 campaign to exempt himself from the benefits of the flat tax. When Forbes ran for president in 1996 and 2000, he sold some of his Forbes Inc. voting shares to other family members to help finance his run. He did not come close to securing the Republican nomination, despite some significant shares of the vote in some primaries, and returned to heading the magazine and company.
Forbes blended a strong social conservatism with his supply-side economics. Forbes is adamantly opposed to abortion and supports prayer within the public schools. He has, however, said that he is not biased against gays.
In 1996, years after the death of his father, he changed the name credited to him on the Forbes magazine masthead from Malcolm S. Forbes Jr. to Steve Forbes.
Though Senator John Forbes Kerry's mother came from an elite Forbes family, the two Forbes clans should not be confused, as Steve Forbes and John Kerry are not, contrary to the beliefs of many, related.
Steve Forbes was one of the signers of the Statement of Principles of Project For The New American Century (PNAC) on June 3, 1997.nl:Steve Forbes