Laury Minard, the founding editor of Forbes Global magazine, the international edition, died while climbing Mount Rainier in Seattle, Washington, on 2 August, aged 51.
He was born in Seattle and raised there and in Juneau, Alaska. After completing his degree in economics from Trinity College, Hartford, Minard studied political economy for two years at the graduate faculty of New York’s New School for Social Research.
He joined Forbes as researcher and reporter in 1974 and served as managing editor of the magazine from July 1989 until joining the new Forbes Global in September 1997. Together with David Warsh he won the 1977 Gerald Loeb Award for the article, "Inflation Is Now Too Serious To Leave To The Economist". His 30 November, 1998, Global cover story, "Act Two", about the transformation of Germany’s electric utility
conglomerate Veb AG, won a first-place award in the Business Journalist of the Year international competition. He won the award again for his 4 October, 1999, cover story "Young, Rich and Restless", about the entrepreneur behind Spain’s Jazztel Telecommunications.
Steve Forbes, president and editor-in-chief of Forbes Inc, said: "Laury wonderfully personified the entrepreneurial spirit of Forbes Global. His extraordinary intellect, unflagging energy, insatiable curiosity and impressive knowledge of business here and abroad made him a superb reporter and editor. His contributions to the success of Forbes and Forbes Global were enormous."
Minard’s journalistic interests included corporate strategies and investment opportunities during times of rapid social, financial and technological change. He believed that entrepreneurs were crucial to dynamic societies, and the governments that repressed entrepreneurs, by restricting their access to the capital markets, and through onerous taxation of income and capital, would fail to create productive employment.
Recently Minard had been invited to join the group that develops much of the agenda for the World Economic Forum’s annual Davos meeting.
He is survived by his wife Elizabeth and their two daughters, Sara and Julia.
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