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Forbes will open a high-end private members’ club in Madrid on Monday as part of a wider effort to diversify revenues at the US media group.
Forbes House Madrid, aimed at business executives and entrepreneurs, is situated in the Spanish capital’s financial district. It is a partnership between Forbes and SpainMedia, publisher of Forbes España, one of Forbes’s 43 local licensed editions.
The US company — which started as a magazine in 1917 — plans to use Madrid as the first step of a wider rollout of private members’ clubs around the world.
Last week, Forbes Media promoted Sherry Phillips to chief executive from chief revenue officer, making her the first female CEO in Forbes’ 107-year history.
Talking to the Financial Times, Phillips said Madrid would “prove it out” as a concept for a private members’ club before Forbes decided on other locations.
Forbes House Madrid is set across seven floors and features a rooftop bar, a restaurant headed by Michelin-starred chef Adolfo Santos and a wine cellar. Founding members have been invited by the Forbes España team.
Phillips has helped oversee many of the revenue diversification strategies at the group. She said Forbes had already “diversified over the past few years quite a bit” from its traditional journalism focus.
Forbes has aimed to address the challenges faced in journalism — where advertising revenues are under pressure — with branded content and marketing and sponsored events, alongside its popular rankings of the wealthy and its “30 Under 30” franchise.
Forbes has also expanded the business into areas such as ecommerce and real estate, alongside supporting its newsroom. Phillips said the company’s employees “pride ourselves on that editorial integrity”.
Forbes had “a positive year” in 2024 despite the challenges facing the media industry, she added. “We ended up in a good spot year over year. But we’re looking to expand on that in 2025 and go a little bit deeper into our communities.”
In 2025, she said, there would be “lots of opportunities still at an incubation stage”, pointing to artificial intelligence as a focus for growth across its business.
Phillips takes over as Forbes faces uncertainty about its future ownership.
An $800mn sale to US billionaire Austin Russell fell through last year, leaving the business with its majority owner, Hong-Kong based Integrated Whale Media Investments.
It has more recently been linked with interest from Koch Inc’s private equity arm. Integrated Whale Media had previously explored taking Forbes public through a special purpose acquisition company (Spac) merger. Phillips declined to comment on the group’s ownership.
