Prince: Where do you see Forbes Media going in the near future?
Forbes: It’s common knowledge that the media business is working on reinventing itself. The Forbes of my grandfather’s tenure cannot possibly be the model for Forbes today or tomorrow. The way I look at it is that we’re embracing entrepreneurial capitalism just as we advocate other people to do so. As a firm, we’re doing what we recommend.
Key to our success is to look for disruption in business models and determine where Forbes, with its brand, expertise and resources, can profitably benefit. My role is to source business opportunities across the globe where we can add significant value.
Critical to making this happen is our emphasis on talent. Internally and with the people we team up with, we’re always looking for forward-thinking, highly proficient individuals. For example, Keith Bloomfield is president of FFT. He’s unquestionably one of the leading authorities in the family office space and he’s very well connected with significant wealthy families throughout the world. Very importantly, because he understands the value Forbes brings to the table as well as our high standards, Keith correctly has turned away business because the match wasn’t right. This is the level of professionalism I’m looking for in partners.
Our goal is to always work with exceptionally capable individuals. You can see this in many of the strategic actions we take. Another example is Lewis DVorkin, who is chief product officer at Forbes Media. He brilliantly led the reinvention of Forbes magazine and Forbes.com. The actualization of his vision is transforming the media business and I believe he’s just getting started.
Prince: What about yourself? Where do you see yourself in the near future?
Forbes: While we’re going to work to stay at the leading edge of the media business, I think the ability to leverage the Forbes brand and resources is still in its infancy. I’m focused on finding synergistic relationships between Forbes and industries like financial services, where we can team up with creative minds.
I don’t think there’s any question that Forbes as a media company and as a partner with other firms in various industries can create a new and bright future. I excitedly look forward to contributing to that success.