2 days ago
Why Forbes Is Using Our Country's 250th Birthday To Celebrate The American Dream
T wo major surveys recently came out that merit spending time with. First, YouGov revealed its annual Trust in Media report, which encompasses 2,000 respondees, and Forbes again excelled, moving up one spot, to 4th place. The three organizations in front of us – PBS, BBC and the Weather Channel – are essentially public utilities. No traditional American media source boasts more trust than Forbes . Then Pew Research came out with a new survey on America's media polarization, and it turns out that the Forbes audience sits at the center of the political spectrum, almost precisely on the ideological equator, with equal sides on the left and right.
Source: YouGov PLC, 2025, © All rights reserved
These results aren't a coincidence, nor do they surprise me. Forbes benefits from consistency. While we prize great journalism and factual rigor, we don't pretend to lack a worldview. We champion entrepreneurial capitalism and free enterprise, growth and innovation, the promise of opportunity and self-determination. In a single word: success. Our terrific journalism supports our mission, and we're transparent about our brand. All of this generates massive credibility with a huge swath of the American (and global) public.
As with business or political capital, credibility demands utilization. So, as we enter the second half of the year, with an eye towards 2026, we're preparing to do just that. This week, we announced our plans for Forbes 250, coinciding with America's semiquincentennial, in a way that's unique to Forbes : a yearlong celebration of the American Dream.
Why do this? Because, as the surveys show, Forbes can uniquely speak to and appeal to America as a whole. At a moment of political finger-pointing, we'll instead point toward something greater: the very essence of what differentiates America, a country founded on an ideal, versus a creed.
'The Political Gap in Americans' News Sources.' Pew Research Center, Washington, D.C. (June 10, 2025)
We've broken the idea of the American Dream down to six tentpoles, which we'll then delve into across our six print issues next year, surround by six live events, and extend with a stream of digital, video and social offerings. Each of these tentpoles will feature a relevant Forbes ranking of 250 people, and we'll be mindful that celebrating the American Dream means enhancing it. So we're building out six non-partisan advisory boards designed to create recommendations on doing just that.
The six American Dream tentpoles, and the questions we seek to address: Equal Opportunity : How can we ensure a level playing field, a prerequisite to American Dream buy-in, with a specific focus on education?
: How can we ensure a level playing field, a prerequisite to American Dream buy-in, with a specific focus on education? Upward Mobility : How do we keep the economy thriving for small business, and guard against monopolies and trusts?
: How do we keep the economy thriving for small business, and guard against monopolies and trusts? Pluralism : As a nation founded by immigrants and a brand (Forbes) built by immigrants, how do we create a system that continues to attract the world's best-and-brightest to continue that momentum?
: As a nation founded by immigrants and a brand (Forbes) built by immigrants, how do we create a system that continues to attract the world's best-and-brightest to continue that momentum? Invention : How do we continue to embody the spirit of the iconic Thomas Edison – continuing to fuel homegrown innovations and technologies that move America and the world forward?
: How do we continue to embody the spirit of the iconic Thomas Edison – continuing to fuel homegrown innovations and technologies that move America and the world forward? Reinvention : As a nation of second acts, how do we strengthen America and reinforce its heritage as a land of second acts?
: As a nation of second acts, how do we strengthen America and reinforce its heritage as a land of second acts? Self-Destiny: How do we encourage ideas and instill confidence, backed by systems that support entrepreneurial energy and reward individual endeavors?
We've already secured some incredible partners. America 250, the official Congressionally-chartered, bipartisan celebratory body, has designated us a partner for innovation and storytelling – their only media partner to date. The Museum of the American Revolution stands with us, as does Harbor Fund, a purpose-driven film financing company, with whom we'll produce an American Dream Film Festival. And there's lots more to come.
The goal of this project is grandly simple: ensure that America is an even greater engine of success and creativity and happiness for its second 250 years than it was in its first. America isn't perfect, but it was designed to, as the Constitution states in its very first sentence, constantly strive to be 'more perfect.' Forbes Forbes 250: Celebrating A Nation Of Problem-Solvers, Mavericks And Risk-Takers-Where Hustle, Reinvention And Meritocracy Rule By Forbes Staff
