James Michaels - Contributions

Contributions

Mr. 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.

Steve Forbes credits Mr. Michaels with Forbes success. Mr. Forbes wrote, "When Jim joined FORBES in 1954, this magazine was, to put it charitably, second-tier. Moreover, business journalism itself was a backwater, a place where publications dumped their drunks and burned-out sportswriters. Today business, finance and economics are front-page stuff." "Jim made FORBES not only the most influential magazine in the business field but also one of the world's premier publications. Indeed, with no exaggeration, Jim Michaels was the foremost editor of our era. He virtually created modern business journalism."

In the 1950s Mr. Michaels foresaw the growth of the then nascent mutual fund industry. Michaels was integral in the development of Forbes' grading system of the long-term performance of funds. He helped create the Forbes 400 ranking of America’s richest people, first published in 1982.