1982 – Forbes begins publishing list of the 400 richest people.
Forbes found its niche in the history of business journalism lists in 1982, when it launched the Forbes 400 richest people in America. Although a daunting task, the list did nothing to promote strong business journalism except to encourage others to document the massive wealth that some business owners, executives and their families had built throughout the years. But the pursuit of wealth – and the list of the wealthiest – were again widely followed.
Said Forbes in announcing the first list: “A periodic scorecard of who is really rich in this country – an intriguing enough inquiry anyway – but it will go beyond that: It will attempt to delve into the nature of wealth and wealthy, into how they got that way as well as who they are, and into how they conduct their lives.”
First on the list was Daniel Keith Ludwig, a shipping magnate whose wealth was estimated at above $2 billion. It is interesting to note that few profiles of Ludwig appeared at the time, though the people at the top of the list today, such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, routinely appear on magazine covers. Prior to his inclusion on the list, Ludwig’s name had appeared in Newsweek in 1976 as one of the richest men in the world and in a Forbes article in 1979 about his South American business holdings. He was not quoted in either article.
In other words, the Forbes’ list increased the public’s fascination with the wealthy and how they had gotten that way. In turn, business journalism began focusing more on those who were in charge of accumulating the wealth – for themselves and for shareholders. A direct correlation between an increase in coverage of the net worth of individuals and the increase in coverage of CEOs can easily be made. No longer were readers of business coverage simply interested in the Rockefellers of Ida Tarbell’s time from the perspective of the broader effect on society of their companies. Consumers of the business press now also wanted the details of their personal lives. Business journalism happily complied, although at first even Forbes was dubious. “ 'I thought it was pretty dicey at first,” said editor James Michaels. “I thought how do you find out about somebody who owns six shopping centers and isn’t on the society pages?” By 1987, the magazine added lists of foreign billionaires and the highest-paid entertainers. Three years later, it added a list of the top 40 highest-paid athletes.