馬爾科姆.福布斯:超越生命

Malcolm Forbes grew up in the upper middle-class community of Englewood， New Jersey. He was born on August 19th， 1919， the third son of Birtie Charles Forbes and his wife， Adelaide Stevenson.

Steve Forbes: I think my father really was a wonderful combination of the best characteristics of both his father and his mother. His father was very hard-driving， came to this country almost penniless， and he succeeded. He was very disciplined1. My grandmother， by contrast， was very outgoing， she enjoyed being around people， very vivacious2， was always the life of the party.

Malcolm’s father， Bertie， had been born in Scotland and came to New York to pursue a career as a business journalist. By the time he married Adelaide， Bertie Charles， or B.C. as he was called， was a widely read business columnist3 known for his resourcefulness at getting information. B.C.， not one to waste time or information， realized that he had enough of both to start his own publication. When the premier4 issue of Forbes hit the newsstands5 on September 15th， 1917， it was the first business magazine in the country and an immediate success. The tireless B.C. also continued writing as a freelance6 journalist， and this constant work helped the family survive the Depression7.

As a young boy， Malcolm had no intention of joining the family business. From an early age， he had set his sights considerably higher. He wanted to be President of The United States. The road to the presidency was longer and harder than Malcolm had expected. At age 38， he was an ex-newspaper editor， ex-magazine publisher， and two-time failed gubernatorial8 candidate9. With nowhere else to go， he returned to Forbes to try to invent a future for himself there.

Though Malcolm had abandoned his political career， he still had a major distraction10 outside the magazine. He was the father of five children and， in typical 50s’ fashion， it was Malcolm， the dad， who was the disciplinarian11， but one who was always willing to listen to his children.

Steve Forbes: My father was a very strong man， had very strong opinions， but， remarkably， he maintained an open mind. And I remember growing up， we would want something and he would say， “No， that’s crazy.” But if he sensed that it meant a lot to you， that you’d thought the thing through， that your heart was set on it， he would say， “OK， I’ll go along with it.”

Malcolm Forbes was now king of his company. But being ruler of a magazine that few people read， did not interest Malcolm. He now concentrated his efforts on getting Forbes known throughout the land.

Malcolm was pushing the editorial side to be as audacious12 as the advertising. The magazine still focused on personalities in business， but now every story had to have a strong point of view， and， if Forbes didn’t have an exclusive13 on a story， they didn’t run it.

Malcolm began his most famous collection when he decided to buy his wife， Roberta， a little present， just a small Easter Egg， made by Faberg— the famed jeweler to the tsar14 of Russia. In time， Malcolm would come to own 12 eggs， two more than the Kremlin， spending over one million for his last one. And， when Malcolm spent money， Forbes benefited.

Editor A: I think he thought all the publicity， all the games， all the tricks and everything was just making Forbes more successful.

Malcolm would go on spending money and showing the world that having fun could be profitable. And at age 60， Malcolm was far from retiring. In fact， he was just revving15 up.

Editor B: The fact that he was such a public personality and that his public personality so much matched the way that， the tone of the magazine， they reinforced16 one another. The Malcolm image reinforced Forbes; Forbes reinforced the Malcolm image.

In 1979， Malcolm’s refusal to give in to negative thinking was put to the test. He was diagnosed17 with a rare and often fatal18 form of bladder cancer19， similar to the disease that had killed his brother， Bruce. Though the illness slowed him， it did not stop Malcolm. As much as possible， he continued working and traveling. Malcolm endured two years of painful treatment， but， in the end， he beat the disease.

Once Malcolm was free of cancer， he kept going strong. In June of 1981， he came up with what would be one of his most effective ideas for the magazine—the Rich List. This would be a compilation20 of the 400 richest people in America. Malcolm’s editorial staff resisted the idea at first， sure that it would be impossible to gather a credible21 list. But that didn’t worry Malcolm.

Editor A: Many of the people were highly offended that somebody would publish the source of their wealth or the size of it. But I can tell you， within a very few years， if Forbes didn’t contact them to find out exactly how much they were worth， they were very upset. Very upset. They weren’t going to lose that distinction22. Malcolm himself had to be persuaded to include his own name on the list. He didn’t want his financial status made public. Finally he agreed to place it at the bottom of the list with no dollar value next to it.

In 1989， Malcolm celebrated his 70th birthday by bringing 800 of his closest friends and press contacts to his palace in Morocco. The party in Morocco would be Malcolm’s last public hurrah23.

Steve Forbes: I think my father will be remembered not so much for specific business decisions or specific things he did with the balloons and with motorcycles and growing the business or raising a large family， but the spirit with which he approached life.

Before he died， Malcolm penned his own epitaph24—one that succinctly25 and perfectly summed up his life: Malcolm Forbes， while alive， he lived.

馬爾科姆·福布斯在新澤西州英格伍德市的中上層社會長大。他出生于1919年8月19日，是伯爾蒂·查爾斯·福布斯與其妻子阿德萊德·史蒂文森的第三個兒子。

史蒂夫·福布斯：我認為我父親確實很好地綜合了他雙親性格的優點。他的父親作風強硬，幾乎身無分文地來到這個國家，然后白手起家。他是個嚴于律己的人。而我的祖母則剛好相反，她非常外向，喜歡與人相處，開朗活潑，永遠是社交活動的明星。

馬爾科姆的父親伯爾蒂出生于蘇格蘭，他來到紐約開始自己的財經記者生涯。當他與阿德萊德結婚時，伯爾蒂·查爾斯，或者B.C.——按人們的習慣叫法——已經是一位擁有廣泛讀者群的財經專欄作家，以其足智多謀的智慧挖掘資源而出名。B.C.不想浪費自己的時間和資源，他意識到自己已經擁有足夠的時間和資源，完全可以開創自己的出版事業了。1917年9月15日，首期《福布斯》雜志出現在報刊亭上，成為全美第一份財經類雜志，迅速取得巨大成功。不知疲倦的B.C.以自由記者的身份繼續寫作，他毫不間斷地工作，幫助他的家庭平穩度過了大蕭條時期。

馬爾科姆小時候并沒打算投身家族事業。小小年紀的他便志存高遠——夢想成為美國總統。

然而總統之路比馬爾科姆想象中更加漫長艱辛。到了38歲，他做過報紙編輯、雜志發行人，還是一個兩次競選失敗的州長候選人。在無路可走的情況下，他回到了《福布斯》雜志，希望在那里開創自己的事業。

雖然馬爾科姆放棄了他的政治事業，雜志之外仍然有其它事情讓他分心。他有五個孩子，并且擁有五十年代典型的處事方式，也就是馬爾科姆這個父親要負責管教孩子，但他總愿意聆聽孩子們的心聲。

史蒂夫·福布斯：我父親是個非常倔強的人，相當堅持己見，但令人敬佩的是，他思想開明。我記得我們還沒長大的時候，如果我們想要什么東西，他會說：“不行，那簡直是瘋了?！钡侨绻X得那對你確實很重要，你也經過了深思熟慮，而且你真的非常想要，他便會說：“好吧，我同意了?！?/p>

馬爾科姆現在是公司的統治者了。但馬爾科姆可沒興趣當一本乏人問津的雜志的統治者?，F在，他集中精力，要讓《福布斯》的名聲響遍美國。

馬爾科姆努力推動編輯方面的改革，讓他們可以像廣告部門一樣大膽創新。雜志本身仍然聚焦于財經業界名人，但是現在，每篇故事都必須有一個明顯的觀點，并且如果《福布斯》不能發表一個獨家故事，他們干脆棄之不用。

馬爾科姆著名的收藏興趣始于他決定為妻子羅伯塔買一份小禮物——那是一枚復活蛋，由著名的珠寶藝術家法貝格為俄國沙皇而制。隨后，馬爾科姆共收藏了12枚這樣的彩蛋，甚至比克里姆林宮的收藏還多了2枚。最后一枚足足花了他一百萬美元。而每當馬爾科姆花錢，《福布斯》都會大大獲利。

編輯甲：我想，他認為所有的公開活動，所有的游戲，所有的小把戲，甚至每件事情，都會讓《福布斯》更加成功。

馬爾科姆會繼續大肆揮霍，讓世人看到玩樂也能帶來巨大的利潤。即使到了60歲，馬爾科姆也沒想過要退休。相反，他不斷加快前進的步伐。

編輯乙：事實上，他天生就是個公眾人物，而且他的公眾形象與雜志的基調完全符合，彼此相得益彰——馬爾科姆的形象輝映著《福布斯》，《福布斯》反過來又使馬爾科姆的形象更加突出。

1979年，馬爾科姆那種不向消極思想低頭的態度受到了巨大考驗。他被確診患上了一種罕見但通常致命的膀胱癌，病情很像當年害死他哥哥布魯斯的情況。疾病減緩了馬爾科姆前進的步伐，卻無法令他停步。他一直盡可能地不斷工作和旅行。馬爾科姆經歷了兩年痛苦的治療過程，但最后，他戰勝了病魔。

痊愈后，馬爾科姆繼續堅定地向前進。1981年6月，他突然有了一個好主意，這成了他為《福布斯》帶來的最有成效的主意——“富豪排行榜”。雜志里收集了全美最富有的400人的名單。剛開始，馬爾科姆的編輯們都很抵觸這個主意，他們認為要收集一份真實可靠的名單是完全不可能的。但馬爾科姆對此并不擔心。

編輯甲：對于有人將他們的財富來源和身家刊登出來，許多人都會覺得這是對他們的極度冒犯。但是我可以告訴你，用不著幾年，如果《福布斯》雜志不跟他們聯系，詢問他們的身家有多少，他們便感到難過。非常難過。他們不想失去這樣的聲望。

馬爾科姆自己也是在勸說之下才將他的名字列入榜單，他并不想將自己的財務狀況公諸于眾。最后他終于同意將自己的名字列在名單末尾，但沒有在旁邊列出具體金額。

1989年，馬爾科姆邀請了800名摯友和新聞界人士在其摩洛哥的宮殿里慶祝70大壽。摩洛哥的這次宴會是馬爾科姆最后一次在公共場合高調露面。

史蒂夫·福布斯：我認為我的父親被世人銘記的原因不是他的某些商業決定，不是他做過的某些事情——例如乘熱氣球或者騎摩托車，也不是他拓展了家族生意或者養活了一個大家庭，而是他對待生活的態度。 去世之前，馬爾科姆親自寫下了他的墓志銘——這句話簡潔又完美地總結了他的一生：馬爾科姆·福布斯不枉此生。