Forbes fires top editor after $6 million secret payment from partner founder

Forbes fired its chief content officer, Randall Lane, in July after discovering he had received approximately $6 million from RJ Shook, the founder of Shook Research—a firm that has partnered with Forbes since 2016 to publish rankings of wealth advisers.

The payment was made after Shook sold a majority stake in Shook Research to PPC Enterprises, a private equity firm, in August of the previous year. Lane's acceptance of the money violated Forbes' editorial policy, which prohibits staff members and contributors from accepting compensation, privileges or favors of any kind from people, companies or groups featured in their coverage.

Lane acknowledged the breach in a statement, saying: "I made a mistake, and I take responsibility for it. I should have disclosed the gift, and failing to was a serious error in judgment. I deeply regret that, and I lost the job and team I love because of it."

Lane had worked at Forbes for nearly 16 years and served as its top editor since 2017. Following his departure, Kerry Lauerman, Executive Editor at Forbes, is overseeing editorial operations in the interim.

Forbes CEO Sherry Phillips addressed the firing in a memo to staff, stating that while questions were natural, the company could not share additional details due to personnel information confidentiality policies. The company declined to comment further on the matter beyond confirming that it maintains a strong editorial leadership team.