Fortune magazine launches

Identification American business magazine

Publisher Henry Luce

Date First published in February, 1930

A periodical focusing on successful business ventures, Fortune magazine was launched only four months after the New York stock market crash triggered the Great Depression. Nevertheless, the magazine remained successful despite the economic turmoil that encompassed the American business world throughout the 1930’s. Fortune incorporated new literary figures as its contributors and featured innovative visual perspectives, providing a fresh example for the periodical business.

First issued in February, 1930, Fortune magazine was launched by Henry Luce, the same businessman who cofounded Time magazine. Fortune was created as a magazine about business for businesspeople. Luce estimated that the cost to begin the magazine would be close to $400,000, but large amounts of advertising would help offset this initial cost. Demonstrating advertisers’ confidence in the magazine, Fortune boasted 779 advertisements during its first year in circulation, and it sold for one dollar per copy.

The product of what Luce referred to as the “experimental department,” made up of Time’s business writer Parker Lloyd-Smith and a researcher named Florence Horn, Fortune was a mash of new ideas. It received its name mostly because Luce’s wife preferred it to other suggestions. Quickly becoming popular, Fortune managed to succeed even during the economic decay in the 1930’s. Debuting with 30,000 subscribers, the magazine increased its circulation to nearly 460,000 by 1937, grossing almost $500,000 that year.

Contrary to normal practices for business magazines, Luce did not recruit experienced businesspeople to be his magazine’s writers. Instead, he focused on hiring promising young literary figures, such as Archibald MacLeish and John Kenneth Galbraith, because he felt that their perspectives would add literary depth to the business world. In addition to new written perspectives, Fortune became known for its innovative visual perspectives as well. Fortune had artistic covers and advertisements, incorporating the works of Antonio Petruccelli, Ervine Metzl, Walter Buehr, Ernest Hamlin Baker, and others.

Fortune’s largest competitor during the 1930’s was BusinessWeek, founded in 1929, which aimed at the same audience: business executives. Both magazines remained widely read and successful throughout the Great Depression and in the years after, despite economic setbacks in nearly every field of business. Most believe that the accelerated growth of advertising is what made this success possible, giving magazines the revenues they needed in order to retain a profit.

Fortune became famous for its annual listings of corporations worldwide. Lists such as the “Fortune 500,” which ranks the world’s companies by gross revenue, are widely consulted by both businesspeople and the general public.

Impact

In a depressed economy, Fortune rose from the minds of successful businesspeople and reached out to those with similar interests and investments. The magazine turned profits despite the economy, proving that some businesses were able to conquer financial challenges exacerbated by the Great Depression. Fortune tells stories of struggling businesspeople who manage to make ends meet in spite of these financial challenges, and it remains one of the most popular business magazines in the United States. Fortune has endured numerous economic recessions, which makes its continued popularity and prosperity all the more intriguing.

Bibliography

Abrahamson, David. Magazine-Made America: The Cultural Transformation of the Postwar Periodical. Cresskill, N.J.: Hampton Press, 1996.

Augspurger, Michael. An Economy of Abundant Beauty: Fortune Magazine and Depression America. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2004.