Business and finance · Tier one
How to get featured in Forbes
How to get featured in Forbes: staff reporting versus contributors versus paid Councils, how to pitch news and lists, and what Forbes editors ignore.
- Website
- forbes.com
- Lead time
- Breaking news: same day to a few days. Features and list-driven stories: several weeks to months, with list nominations closing well before publication.
- Last verified
At a glance
Audience. Founders, executives, investors, and business-minded readers following companies, wealth, leadership, and entrepreneurship.
- Billionaires and wealth
- Startups and venture capital
- Innovation and AI
- Leadership
- Money and investing
- Lifestyle
- Ranked lists such as 30 Under 30 and the Cloud 100
- Staff reporting
- Forbes staff writers and editors report news, investigations, and the franchise lists (Forbes 400, 30 Under 30, Midas, Cloud 100) on assigned beats.
- Contributed articles
- Forbes.com also runs pieces from an invited contributor network and from Forbes Councils, a paid membership whose members can submit bylined articles after approval.
- Opinion and op-eds
- Forbes has no open op-ed inbox. Opinion-style bylines appear through contributors or paid Council membership rather than a public submission route.
- Press releases
- Press releases are not published as editorial content. Staff and contributors may use them as background, but a release alone rarely produces a story.
Pitching Forbes, step by step
Decide which Forbes you are pitching: a staff reporter (earned), an independent contributor (earned, but their own editorial call), or Forbes Councils (paid).
Read the last month of bylines on your beat and confirm the writer is still active; Forbes has reduced its contributor roster in recent years.
Lead with data, money, or a ranking angle. Forbes staff stories tend to turn on valuation, revenue, wealth, or a verifiable first.
Offer an exclusive or early look with a clear embargo time when the news is genuinely new.
Track list nomination windows (30 Under 30 and others) on Forbes.com and submit through the official form rather than emailing editors.
Use the official tips page for sensitive information instead of cold-emailing multiple staffers.
How Forbes decides what to cover
Forbes runs three very different publishing tracks under one masthead, and the first job in any Forbes strategy is knowing which one you are dealing with. Staff writers and editors produce the reported news, investigations, magazine features, and the franchise lists such as the Forbes 400, 30 Under 30, the Midas List, and the Cloud 100. A separate contributor network publishes under the Forbes.com banner, with each contributor making their own editorial calls within Forbes guidelines. Forbes Councils is a paid membership: members who are approved and pay annual dues can submit bylined articles and Expert Panel quotes.
Staff coverage is earned and tends to follow money: valuations, revenue, wealth, funding, and verifiable firsts. Lists are a large part of the Forbes identity, and many founders first appear in Forbes through a list nomination rather than a pitch.
How to pitch Forbes
Start by finding the right staff reporter. Read recent bylines on your beat and confirm the person writes the kind of story you are offering. Lead with the number that makes the story matter: the round, the revenue milestone, the customer count, the market size you are taking. Keep the first email short, include a one-line summary of the news, and offer an exclusive or an embargoed early look when the news is real.
For contributors, the same rules apply, but check activity. Forbes has trimmed its contributor roster, so a writer you found in an older article may no longer publish there. For lists, use the nomination forms Forbes publishes each cycle and respect the deadlines.
Contributed articles and op-eds
Forbes does not run a public op-ed inbox. Executives who want a recurring byline usually go through Forbes Councils, which is paid. The Councils site lists dues, including a one-time initiation fee, and describes a vetting and qualification process with revenue thresholds that vary by council. Council content is labeled and sits apart from staff reporting, so treat it as owned thought leadership rather than earned coverage.
Frequently asked questions
Can you pay to be featured in Forbes?
You cannot pay for staff coverage. You can pay for Forbes Councils membership, which allows approved members to publish bylined articles, and Forbes also sells advertising and branded content.
Does Forbes accept guest posts?
Not through an open submission process. Bylines come from staff, invited contributors, or paid Council members.
Who should I pitch at Forbes?
The staff reporter who has recently covered your sector, found through current bylines on Forbes.com. Use the tips page for sensitive information.
A PR-led agency approaches Forbes by separating the earned track from the paid one, building a data-backed story for the right staff reporter, and timing list nominations well ahead of deadlines. See how we run media relations for tier-one business outlets.
Mistakes that get pitches ignored
- Treating a Councils byline as earned coverage; it is a paid membership and readers can tell.
- Pitching a contributor who has not published in months.
- Sending generic product launches with no numbers, customers, or funding attached.
- Asking a staff writer to include you in a list instead of using the nomination process.
Keep going
Related outlets
Sources for this profile (3)
- Forbes Councils: Overview
- Forbes Councils: Membership dues
- Press Gazette: Forbes cuts contributing writers
Profiles describe public editorial processes and are reviewed periodically. Digitize is not affiliated with Forbes. Spot something out of date? Email [email protected].