Vice President, Forbes, Inc., and President, ForbesLife
As Vice President of Forbes and President of ForbesLife magazine, Robert L. Forbes exemplifies the success of many intrapreneurs, as he constantly employs internal systems and processes which ensure that ForbesLife achieves its mission of celebrating the rewards of success with flair and style. And it’s the ability to promote innovation within the internal organization which has propelled ForbesLife to unparalleled success. Launched in 1990, the magazine is the dedicated lifestyle supplement that is sent to all Forbes subscribers and is devoted to the pursuit of civilized pleasures. It is designed for well-heeled business leaders who play as hard as they work. Inspired by his father Malcolm Forbes to embrace a love for life and for business, Mr. Forbes is also an author who will publish the third in a collection of rhymed and metered poetry books this February. Aimed at children but also fun for adults, each is brilliantly illustrated by the late master caricaturist, Ronald Searle. BEASTLY FEASTS! A Mischievous Menagerie in Rhyme arrived to acclaim in 2007, and a second volume followed in 2010, LET’S HAVE A BITE! A Beastly Banquet in Rhyme. Next will be BEAST FRIENDS FOREVER! Animal Lovers in Rhyme, a compilation that will be geared to older kids and the adult gift market. Mr. Forbes also took the photographs for his wife’s popular book, A YEAR OF DANCING DANGEROUSLY, about her first year of competitive ballroom dancing, and has authored numerous articles on food and travel. In addition, he produced a number of documentary films for Forbes, and co-authored Toy Boats 1870-1955: A Pictorial History, published by Scribner’s in 1979. Mr. Forbes has served on the boards for St. Mark’s School, Southborough, Massachusetts, the American School of Tangier in Morocco, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, New York. With his wife, Lydia, Mr. Forbes is a member of the Rockefeller University Council in New York City and The Four Arts Society of Palm Beach, Florida. He is also a member of the board of the SS United States Conservancy, serves on the advisory board of the Empire State Center for the Book, and is a Friend of the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. In addition to business leadership and creative writing, his interests include wine collecting, American and European photography, and the works of French post-impressionist painter Henri Le Sidaner. Robert L. Forbes was born in 1949 and received his Bachelor of Arts in Italian from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1971, which included a year of study at the University per Stranieri in Perugia, Italy. He and his wife reside in Florida.
