《财富》(FORTUNE)杂志是全球最知名的商业期刊之一,1930年由美国人亨利·卢斯创办,隶属于美国时代华纳公司(Time
Warner)旗下的出版机构时代公司(Time)。该杂志每年评出的“全球最大五百家公司”(世界五百强)排名为中国人所熟知。
1954年,美国《财富》杂志开始以严谨的评估推出全球最大500家企业的名单,“全球500强排行榜”从此产生了巨大影响,以至于超越了国家、民族、文化而成为全球经济的一个标准。迄今为止,就影响力而言,没有任何一种媒体的“排行榜”能望其项背。这一排名已成世界知名企业用来判断自身实力、规模和国际竞争力的重要指标,也是世界经济状况极具权威性的晴雨表。列入世界经济500强,对企业来说不仅仅是一种莫大的荣耀,同时也意味着企业的无形资产在一夜之间得到了数以亿计的增长。
《财富》杂志利用其影响力举办了一系列的财经论坛,如《财富》500强论坛(首席执行官)、《财富》首席金融官论坛等。
Fortune was founded by Time co-founder Henry Luce in February
1930, four months after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 that
marked the outset of the Great Depression. Briton Hadden,
Luce's partner, wasn't enthusiastic about the idea, but Luce
went forward with it after Hadden's October 15, 1929 death
(of streptococcus).
Single copies of that first issue cost $1 at a time when
the Sunday New York Times was only 5c.At a time when business
publications were little more than numbers and statistics
printed in black and white, Fortune was an oversized 11"x14",
using creamy heavy paper, and great art on a cover printed
by a special process. Fortune was also noted for its photography,
featuring the work of Margaret Bourke White and others. Walker
Evans served as its photography editor from 1945-1965.
An urban legend says that art director T M Clelland mocked
up the cover of the first issue with the $1 price because
nobody had yet decided how much to charge; the magazine was
printed before anyone realized it, and when people saw it
for sale, they thought that the magazine must really have
worthwhile content. In fact, there were 30,000 subscribers
who'd already signed up to receive that initial 184-page issue.
Fortune claims their circulation has risen from 833,000 to
857,000in that period.
A theme of Fortune is its regular publishing of researched
and ranked lists. In the human resources field, for example,
their Best Companies to Work For list is an industry benchmark.
Its most famous lists rank companies by gross revenue and
profile their businesses: Fortune 500 Fortune 1000 Fortune
Global 500.
Just as Wall Street is an icon to the investment community,
Fortune magazine is one to its readership, the difference
being Fortune's diversified reach into the many facets of
business: technology, companies, global economics, and, of
course, your personal fortune. While many a narrow-focused
business and investing magazine has come and gone, Fortune
has grown and prospered, investing as much in content as ad
space and staying in print since the 1930s. Columns include
features on the marketplace, tech movers and shakers, career
trends, U.S. politics, and even European business. Readers
also look forward to the annually updated Fortune lists, which
include the "40 Richest Under 40," "Most Powerful
Women," and the "Fortune 500," an exclusive
collection of companies whose employees are undoubtedly Fortune
readers as well.
Gives top executives, and those working to reach senior
positions in business information on the economic, political
and social trends that affect the environment of business.
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