[3] He attended the Culver Military Academy in Indiana and graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor's degree in economics in 1942.
[2] He left the magazine to help expand the Forbes Inc parent company into new mediums including television, books and new media.
"[5] Steve Forbes described James Michaels as a tough editor who wanted articles short, dramatic, and opinionated.
[6] According to the New York Times, when Michaels took over as editor, "American journalism remained a polite, dry affair, and corporate spin was reported without much skepticism.
Ahead of his time, he made Forbes opinionated, interpretive and often indecorous, a magazine staunchly pro-business (and, its critics said, pro-wealthy) but did not hesitate to skewer companies and executives it saw as failures.
According to the New York Times many of his former writers and editors remember Mr. Michaels as much for his brutal assessments of their work as for his incisive teaching.
While always a gentlemen and available to talk, he could not stand verbose writing and would ruthlessly cut words and forced writers to state their view.
Allan Sloan wrote, "Unlike many of his competitors, Michaels didn't particularly lionize corporate chieftains.
"Jim made FORBES not only the most influential magazine in the business field but also one of the world's premier publications.
Mr. Michaels has been cited as mentoring and influencing a long and influential group of writers, journalists, and editors including (but not necessarily limited to): Norman Pearlstine, Allan Sloan, Richard Behar, David Churbuck, Gretchen Morgenson, Kenneth Fisher, Peter Brimelow, William M Reddig Jr and Ed Finn.
[11] The TJFR Group honored Michaels by naming him one of the Top Ten Business News Luminaries of the Century.