Who

The CEO of Forbes Inc. and the editor-in-chief of Forbes, Steve is the bug-eyed publisher of the money magazine that bears his family name and a two-time unsuccessful presidential candidate.

Backstory

Malcolm "Steve" Forbes, Jr. grew up in Short Hills with a proverbial silver spoon in his mouth: His father, of course, was the flashy publisher Malcolm Forbes, who inherited the eponymous title from his father, B.C. Forbes, who first published Forbes in 1917. After attending Princeton and joining the National Guard (to avoid Vietnam), Steve started working for his father at the age of 22—and he's been at the company ever since. (His father passed away in 1990.) Forbes's second career in politics took shape in the early 1990s when he joined Christie Todd Whitman's gubernatorial campaign as an advisor, working with her to craft a tax platform that helped her win the election. Three years later, he tossed his own hat into the political ring when he decided to run for the Republican presidential nomination on the virtues of his name recognition and a "flat tax" platform. He lost, of course, but the defeat didn't prevent him from trying again—and losing again—in 2000. He's hasn't attempted to run for office since, but he remains closely tied to the Republican political machine, most recently serving as a policy advisor to Rudy Giuliani's hapless campaign for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.

Of note

Junior has yet to display anything approaching his famous father's talent for making money—in fact, it seems his real talent is in spending (and losing) it. Forbes spent $37 million on his bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 1996, and an estimated $50 million on his attempt in 2000. And although Forbes' ad pages went up in the late 90s (along with just about every other magazine), the fusty family business has been on the decline in recent years. In August 2006, in a somewhat surprising deal, Forbes sold a stake to Elevation Partners, a private equity firm that counts rock star Bono among its owners. Elevation, which is chaired by Silicon Valley vet Roger McNamee, paid an estimated $250-$300 million for a 40 percent stake in Forbes Inc., whose web presence the equity firm has been focusing its energies on beefing up.

In person

Forbes often seems as weird as he looks—his public appearances and segments on Forbes on Fox are legendary for their awkwardness. Filmmaker Michael Moore once commented that Forbes never appeared to blink his eyes when he appeared in public. He later interviewed an eye specialist at New York Hospital about Forbes's possible condition. Much to Moore's amusement, the doc reportedly told the filmmaker that the condition was "not human."

Campaign trail

Even though the electorate has yet to take his political ambitions too seriously, that hasn't stopped Forbes from doing so himself: The web site campaignmoney.com has him as the fourth most important individual donor to political campaigns since 2000, with 18 contributions totaling more than $7 million. He's got a bit more money to play with these days: In 2004, he sold off the Forbes's famous Faberge egg collection—which had been in the family for three generations—to a Russian energy tycoon for an estimated $100 million.

Personal

Steve and his wife Sabina have five daughters: Roberta, Sabina, Catherine, Moira, and Elizabeth. They live in a massive home located on 520 acres in Bedminster, New Jersey, and also own homes in Normandy and London. (The family sold its private Fiji island to Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz and a 171,400-acre ranch in Colorado to Louis Bacon for roughly $145 million.) Forbes shuttles between the estates and his offices in New York by private jet, helicopter, or the family yacht, Highlander. His brothers Christopher ("Kip") Forbes, Robert Forbes, and Timothy Forbes all worked for the family publishing company, too, as does his daughter Moira.

No joke

As a kid, Steve and his brother Tim were forced by their dad to learn the bagpipes and give impromptu performances on the family yacht while wearing kilts.