Fortune is a global business magazine published by Time Inc..

Founded by Henry Luce in 1930, four months after the Wall Street Crash of1929 that marked the onset of the Great Depression. Briton Hadden, Luce’spartner, wasn’t enthusiastic about the idea, but Luce went forward with itafter Hadden’s February 27, 1929 death. The magazine is especially knownfor its annual features ranking companies by revenue. CNN Money.com isthe online home of Fortune.

During the Great Depression, Fortune developed a reputation for its socialconscience, for Walker Evans and Margaret Bourke-White’s color photographs,and for a team of writers including James Agee, Archibald MacLeish, JohnKenneth Galbraith, and Alfred Kazin, hired specifically for their writing abilities.

Fortune became an important leg of Luce’s Time/Life media empire,which has grown to become Time Warner. For many years Fortune waspublished as a monthly, but as of January, 1978, it is published twice amonth. It considers its purview the entire field of business, including thepeople, trends, companies, and ideas that characterize modern business.

While circulation of the business magazines sector has apparently slumpedsince 2000. Fortune claims their circulation has risen from 833,000 to857,000 in that period.