Caspar Weinberger to Be New Publisher of Forbes

Former Secretary of Defense Caspar W. Weinberger has been named publisher of Forbes magazine, effective Jan. 1.

Weinberger, 71, who resigned from the Reagan Administration last November after nearly seven years in his post, has limited experience in publishing. He was president of the Harvard Crimson as an undergraduate and has worked as a newspaper columnist and television moderator. He currently is counsel of the international law firm of Rogers & Wells.

He also served as secretary of Health, Education and Welfare under presidents Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford until resigning to become vice president of Bechtel Group, a West Coast construction conglomerate.

“This promises to be a lot of fun for awhile,” Weinberger said at a ceremony at Forbes’ Fifth Avenue headquarters in New York. Weinberger, who called journalism his “first love,” will be writing commentary in every issue.

“The kind of advice that he used to receive, he will now be giving,” Forbes Chairman Malcolm S. Forbes said. “He brings a dimension of knowledge of American business and the operations of government. It’s a unique combination.”

He replaces James J. Dunn, 69, publisher since 1966. Dunn--only the third publisher in the magazine’s 71-year history and the first who was not a member of the Forbes family--will become vice chairman and consultant to the magazine.

Dunn said his decision to step down was personal.

“Some years ago, Malcolm said to me, ‘You know, Jim, you and I are going to go out feet first,’ ” Dunn said. “I decided against feet first.”

The previous publishers were Malcolm Forbes and his father, B. C. Forbes, the magazine’s founder.

The biweekly magazine has a circulation of 735,000.

“My four Forbes-involved sons and I are really happy that Cap Weinberger is going to be helping us and our colleagues at the wheel of Forbes,” said Malcolm Forbes, who is the magazine’s editor-in-chief.

Weinberger said he did not plan to move to New York from Washington. He maintains an apartment in New York.

When asked what his salary as publisher would be, Weinberger practically gloated: “I don’t know that it’s a matter of public interest. It’s the kind of question I had to answer in public office, and I don’t have to answer it here.”