The top editor of Forbes was fired last month after the company discovered that he had received a payment of about $6 million from the founder of a firm that does business with the magazine, according to three people familiar with the decision.
Randall Lane, the magazine’s chief content officer, was paid by RJ Shook, whose company, Shook Research, has teamed up with Forbes since 2016 to publish rankings of wealth advisers. The payment was made after Mr. Shook sold a majority stake in Shook Research to PPC Enterprises, a private equity firm, last August, two of the people familiar with the transaction said.
It isn’t clear why Mr. Shook paid Mr. Lane. According to a person familiar with Mr. Lane’s thinking, he considered the payment a gift in recognition of the advice he had provided Mr. Shook over the years.
This article is based on interviews with a half-dozen people familiar with Mr. Lane’s exit and his work at Forbes who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss confidential and proprietary information.
Forbes has policies requiring its employees to seek permission before conducting outside business activities and prohibiting them from gaining personally — directly or indirectly — from the company’s business dealings, according to a copy of the employee handbook obtained by The New York Times. Traditional newsrooms usually forbid journalists to accept payments from sources or business partners to avoid conflicts of interest or the appearance of a conflict.
“I made a mistake, and I take responsibility for it,” Mr. Lane, 58, said in a statement to The Times. “I should have disclosed the gift, and failing to was a serious error in judgment. I deeply regret that, and I lost the job and team I love because of it. None of this changes how I feel about Forbes and the amazing people there,” Mr. Lane added.
A Forbes spokeswoman confirmed that Mr. Lane was no longer with the magazine but declined to comment on the payment. A spokesman for Shook Research declined to comment. Mr. Shook did not respond to calls or messages seeking comment.
Founded more than a century ago, Forbes emerged as an influential, biweekly chronicle of corporate America during the 20th century, putting titans of industry like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett on its cover.
Forbes’s business model has evolved over the years. As its print advertising revenues declined, the company ventured into new businesses, such as selling commemorative plaques and holding ticketed events for professionals who made its coveted lists. In the 2010s, it was criticized for publishing a flood of articles from contributors, some of whom had little experience, if any, in traditional journalism. Some contributors promised people and businesses a mention on Forbes.com in exchange for payment. Forbes in 2018 made changes to its contributor network and said at the time that it was “redoubling its commitment to quality.”
Over the past decade, Forbes has published many co-branded rankings using Shook’s research that highlight the “Best-In-State Top Next-Gen Wealth Advisors” or the “Top Wealth Management Teams — Private Wealth.” Shook Research’s website highlights 12 different lists.
To build the lists, Shook employees interview and analyze financial advisers across the country and turn their rankings over to Forbes, which reviews and publishes the list. Financial advisers don’t pay to be included on the list, but those who make the cut can pay to purchase plaques, logos and detailed online profiles commemorating their inclusion, sometimes for thousands of dollars. Forbes splits that money with Shook Research, which highlights its affiliation with Forbes on its corporate website.
The partnership generates revenue for both companies. When Forbes attempted to go public in 2021 with a $630 million merger with a shell company, it cited its partnership with Shook Research and their co-branded rankings as “well-known and followed franchises” along with its “30 Under 30” list and billionaires ranking. And when Shook Research sold a stake for an undisclosed sum to PPC Enterprises last year, it touted its relationship with Forbes in the news release.
Mr. Lane, who worked at Forbes for the last 15 years, did not oversee the day-to-day business relationship with Shook Research, two people familiar with the magazine’s publication of the rankings said.
Mr. Lane and Mr. Shook bonded in 2013 during a humanitarian trip to Liberia organized by Forbes, according to a person with knowledge of their relationship. Since then, Mr. Lane has served as an unofficial sounding board for Mr. Shook, the person said. Mr. Lane didn’t disclose the payment to Forbes because he saw it as a personal gift from a friend, the person said.
Evidence of the payment, which came out of Mr. Shook’s own pocket, was unearthed by PPC Enterprises when it reviewed email correspondence at Shook Research after its purchase of the company, one of the people said. Shook Research’s new management flagged the payment to Forbes.
Mr. Lane acknowledged the payment when Forbes asked him about it in July. After he was fired, he was replaced on an interim basis by Kerry Lauerman, the magazine’s executive editor.
Mr. Lane is now focusing on his own projects. In 2023, he co-founded the National Thoroughbred League, a competitive horseracing association. And this summer, he mounted a rock musical he wrote about Benjamin Franklin titled “The Sound of America” in Philadelphia that cast the founding father as “America’s first rock star.” It finished its debut run this month.
