Christopher Forbes

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Christopher "Kip" Forbes (born July 18, 1950) is an American publisher, art collector, and philanthropist.[1] He is the Vice Chairman of Forbes Publishing and a son of Malcolm Forbes, the longtime publisher of ''Forbes'' magazine.[2] Forbes is widely recognized for his contributions to the preservation of art and culture, especially in areas such as French decorative arts, Fabergé eggs, and 19th‑century European paintings.[3]

Early life and education

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Christopher Forbes was born in Morristown, New Jersey, to Malcolm Forbes and Roberta Remsen Laidlaw.[4] He grew up in a family deeply associated with publishing and collecting art. Forbes attended Princeton University, where he studied art history, graduating in 1972.[5]

Life and career

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He attended St. Mark's School in Southborough, Massachusetts, and Princeton University.[6] His brother is Steve Forbes, who has made multiple runs for the U.S. presidency and written some in-depth political and economic narratives.[7]

Always interested in art and collecting, he worked with his father, Malcolm Forbes restoring the Château de Balleroy in Normandy, France, and Old Battersea House in London, England. Mr. Forbes has written numerous books and catalogues about art and collecting, including Fabergé: The Forbes Collection, co-authored with Robyn Tromeur and published by Hugh Lauter Levin.

On December 5, 1985, Kip Forbes paid the highest price ever recorded for a single bottle of wine. Hardy Rodenstock (Meinhard Görke) put one of the 'recently discovered' "Th. J." (Thomas Jefferson) bottles up for auction at Christie's in London: a bottle of 1787 Château Lafite engraved "1787 Lafitte Th. J." The bottles had been found in a walled-up old cellar,[8] and were engraved with vintage years from the late eighteenth century. This had in itself been an interesting find for a collector of old wines, but the bottles also were engraved with the initials, "Th. J.", which was taken as an indication that they had belonged to Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson was an active oenophile and wine collector, who spent much time in France during the 1780s and whose interest in wine is well documented.[9]

The auction catalogue simply listed the value as "inestimable", and it was sold for 105,000 pound sterling which, as of 2007, remains the worldwide auction record for a single bottle of wine.[10] Forbes was bidding against Marvin Shanken of Wine Spectator Magazine, with Michael Broadbent handling the gavel at the auction.

Rodenstock is currently in court charged with perpetrating large-scale wine fraud. It is alleged that the Thomas Jefferson bottles are fake, and multiple experts and various pieces of evidence apparently support this conclusion. Rodenstock has refused to allow the German magazine Stern to have the wine's veracity tested at its expense.

A book, The Billionaire's Vinegar, has been published about the affair, although it has been withdrawn from the UK market following legal action by Michael Broadbent. The film rights to both the book and a New Yorker article about the scandal have been purchased.

References

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  1. ^ Intelligent Collector – "The Passions of Christopher Forbes"
  2. ^ Christopher "Kip" Forbes is the vice chairman of Forbes, Inc. and attributes his artistic upbringing to his father, Malcolm Forbes – PleinAir Easton
  3. ^ Forbes India – “Cuckoo for Fabergé: The Cockerel Egg and Malcolm S. Forbes’s Fabergé obsession”
  4. ^ Powerbase – Christopher 'Kip' Forbes born in Morristown, New Jersey, son of Malcolm Forbes and Roberta Remsen Laidlaw
  5. ^ ARTNews – The Forbes Collection overview
  6. ^ "Celebrating the Forbes Family of Collectors | Princeton University Art Museum". artmuseum.princeton.edu. Retrieved 2025-03-28.
  7. ^ "Steve Forbes Campaign Ads". archive.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2025-03-28.
  8. ^ Keefe, Patrick Radden, The Jefferson Bottles, The New Yorker, September 3, 2007, p. 7
  9. ^ J. Robinson (ed), "The Oxford Companion to Wine", Third Edition, pp. 375-376, Oxford University Press 2006; ISBN 0-19-860990-6
  10. ^ Keefe, Patrick Radden, The Jefferson Bottles, The New Yorker, September 3, 2007, p. 1