James Michaels

James Walker Michaels (June 17, 1921 – October 2, 2007) was an American journalist and magazine editor. Michaels served as the longtime editor of Forbes magazine from 1961 until his retirement in 1999.

Early life James Michaels was born in Buffalo, New York, on June 17, 1921. Steve Forbes described James Michaels as a tough editor who wanted articles short, dramatic, and opinionated. According to Forbes, "he despised 'bad actors' who were cheating investors, customers, employees."

According to The New York Times many of his former writers and editors remember Michaels as much for his brutal assessments of their work as for his incisive teaching. While always a gentleman and available to talk, he could not stand verbose writing and would ruthlessly cut words and forced writers to state their view. A staunch contrarian, he did not let public opinion dictate the magazines views.

Michaels focused on the needs of his readers, rather than pleasing corporate executives or the mainstream media. Allan Sloan wrote, "Unlike many of his competitors, Michaels didn't particularly lionize corporate chieftains. His focus was on representing small investors' interests."

Michaels was a hater of weasel words. William Baldwin (current Forbes editor) wrote "Jim had a novel idea. Why not speak to the reader as if you were speaking to a friend on a street corner? Brevity helps. Judgments help. If the chairman of the company is a nincompoop, say so -- if there's evidence to prove it."

As editor, Michaels edited 1,000 issues, and he worked on almost every story. He wanted articles to be shorter, more direct, and with a clear conclusion to ensure they were fit for readers. He also wanted stories in Forbes to be original. If a story had been covered in another publication, he didn't want it in the magazine. To quote him, "Our readers look to us for groundbreaking, helpful stuff. Who needs us if we're doing what everyone else is doing?"

Contributions Michaels' writing on Gandhi's death is included in the anthology "A Treasury of Great Reporting". Michaels' dispatches from India are still taught in journalism anthologies of model reporting on deadline. He helped create the Forbes 400 ranking of America's richest people, first published in 1982.

Mentorship and influence Michaels has been cited as mentoring and influencing an influential group of writers, journalists, and editors including Norman Pearlstine, Allan Sloan, Richard Behar, David Churbuck, Gretchen Morgenson, Kenneth Fisher, Peter Brimelow, William M Reddig Jr and Ed Finn.

Awards Michaels was honored with many awards, including a special Gerald Loeb Award (1972), Editor of the Year by Ad Week (1983), and the Greald Loeb Lifetime Achievement Award (1994). The TJFR Group honored Michaels by naming him one of the Top Ten Business News Luminaries of the Century. He was also survived by his brother (Albert), sister (Harriet), three children from a previous marriage, and six granddaughters.