Forbes has fired its chief content officer, Randall Lane, after discovering he had accepted an undisclosed payment of roughly $6 million from RJ Shook, founder of Shook Research, a firm that has partnered with Forbes for a decade on rankings of wealth advisers, according to a New York Times investigation citing people familiar with the matter. Lane departed the magazine last month, ending a 15-year run at the publication.

A Payment Tied to a Business Sale

The payment reportedly followed Shook’s sale of a majority stake in Shook Research to private equity firm PPC Enterprises last August. According to two people familiar with the transaction cited by the Times, it remains unclear precisely why Shook made the payment to Lane, though a person familiar with Lane’s thinking said he regarded it as a personal gift in recognition of informal advice he had given Shook over the years.

Lane did not oversee the day-to-day business relationship between Forbes and Shook Research, according to two people familiar with how the magazine handles the rankings, according to the Times. Instead, his connection to Shook traced back to 2013, when the two men grew close during a humanitarian trip to Liberia organized by Forbes. Since then, Lane had served as what one person described as an unofficial sounding board for Shook. According to that person, Lane did not disclose the payment to Forbes because he viewed it as a gift from a friend rather than a business transaction requiring disclosure.

How the Payment Came to Light

The payment reportedly surfaced only after PPC Enterprises, reviewing internal correspondence at Shook Research following its acquisition of the firm, discovered evidence of the transaction, which had come directly out of Shook’s personal funds. Shook Research’s new ownership subsequently flagged the payment to Forbes. When the magazine asked Lane about it in July, he acknowledged receiving the money, according to the Times’ reporting.

A Violation of Newsroom Ethics Standards

Forbes maintains internal policies requiring employees to seek permission before engaging in outside business activities and barring them from personally benefiting, directly or indirectly, from the company’s business relationships, according to a copy of the employee handbook the Times reviewed. Such restrictions are common across traditional newsrooms, which typically prohibit journalists from accepting payments from sources or business partners in order to avoid conflicts of interest or even the appearance of one.

In a statement to the Times, Lane, 58, took responsibility for the lapse. “I made a mistake, and I take responsibility for it,” he said. “I should have disclosed the gift, and failing to was a serious error in judgment. I deeply regret that, and I lost the job and team I love because of it. None of this changes how I feel about Forbes and the amazing people there.”

A Forbes spokeswoman confirmed to the Times that Lane was no longer with the company but declined to comment further on the payment itself. A spokesman for Shook Research also declined to comment, and Shook did not respond to the Times’ attempts to reach him for comment.

The Forbes-Shook Partnership

Since 2016, Forbes and Shook Research have co-published a series of rankings highlighting top financial advisers, including lists such as “Best-In-State Top Next-Gen Wealth Advisors” and “Top Wealth Management Teams — Private Wealth.” Shook Research’s website currently promotes 12 separate rankings produced through the partnership.

To compile the lists, Shook Research staff interview and evaluate financial advisers nationwide before submitting their findings to Forbes, which reviews and publishes the results. While inclusion on the rankings itself is free, advisers who make a list have the option to pay for commemorative plaques, branded logos and detailed online profiles, sometimes paying thousands of dollars for the privilege. Revenue from those purchases is split between Forbes and Shook Research, and Shook Research features its Forbes affiliation prominently on its own corporate website.

The arrangement has proven commercially significant for both companies. When Forbes pursued a public listing in 2021 through a proposed $630 million merger with a shell company, it pointed to its rankings partnership with Shook Research as one of its “well-known and followed franchises,” alongside signature Forbes properties such as its “30 Under 30” list and its billionaires ranking. Shook Research similarly emphasized its Forbes ties in the announcement of its sale to PPC Enterprises last year.

Forbes’s Broader Evolution

Forbes, founded more than a century ago, built its reputation across the 20th century as an influential chronicle of American business, having featured figures such as Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett on its cover. As traditional print advertising revenue declined in more recent years, the company diversified into new revenue streams, including selling commemorative plaques and hosting ticketed events tied to its rankings.

The magazine faced separate scrutiny in the 2010s over its contributor network, after publishing a large volume of articles from outside writers, some with limited journalism experience, several of whom reportedly offered mentions on Forbes.com in exchange for payment. Forbes overhauled the contributor program in 2018, saying at the time it was “redoubling its commitment to quality.”

Leadership Transition

Following his dismissal, Lane was replaced on an interim basis by Kerry Lauerman, the magazine’s executive editor. Lane has since turned his attention to other projects. He co-founded the National Thoroughbred League, a competitive horseracing organization, in 2023, and this summer wrote and staged a rock musical about Benjamin Franklin titled “The Sound of America” in Philadelphia, which portrayed the founding father as “America’s first rock star.” The production concluded its debut run this month.