Randall Lane (journalist)
{{short description|American journalist and author}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Randall Lane
| image = Randall Lane (born 1968) at World Economic Forum Davos 2021.png
| caption = Speaking at the 2021 World Economic Forum
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| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1968}}
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| occupation = Chief Content Officer and Editor-in-chief, Forbes
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| education = University of Pennsylvania
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| children = 2
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| credits = Forbes, P.O.V., Trader Monthly, Dealmaker, Daily Beast
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Randall Lane (born 1968) is an American journalist and author who serves as the chief content officer{{Cite web|last=Releases|first=Forbes Press|title=Forbes Announces Inaugural Next 1000 Initiative To Spotlight And Accelerate Rising Entrepreneurs Forging The Path Forward To Redefine The American Dream|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbespr/2020/07/29/forbes-announces-inaugural-next-1000-initiative-to-spotlight-and-accelerate-rising-entrepreneurs-forging-the-path-forward-to-redefine-the-american-dream/|access-date=August 5, 2020|website=Forbes|language=en}}{{Cite news|last=Hsu|first=Tiffany|date=July 21, 2019|title=Jeffrey Epstein Pitched a New Narrative. These Sites Published It.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/21/business/media/jeffrey-epstein-media.html|access-date=September 13, 2020|issn=0362-4331}} and editor-in-chief of Forbes magazine.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Bloomberg - Randall Lane|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/person/17371799|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=August 5, 2020|website=www.bloomberg.com}}{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Randall Lane|url=https://sps.columbia.edu/advisory-board-member/randall-lane|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=August 5, 2020|website=Columbia University}}{{Cite web|date=September 8, 2019|title=Forbes Editor Offers Non-Apology For Leaving Women Off Innovators List|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/forbes-innovators-list-women_n_5d757875e4b0fde50c289bc3|access-date=August 5, 2020|website=HuffPost Canada|language=en}} In 2011, Lane created the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. Lane is a former editor-at-large for both Newsweek and The Daily Beast.{{Cite web|title=Randall Lane|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/author/randall-lane|access-date=August 14, 2020|website=The Daily Beast|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Congressional Economic Agenda {{!}} C-SPAN.org|url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?72037-1/congressional-economic-agenda|access-date=September 3, 2020|website=www.c-span.org|language=en-us}}{{Cite web|title=Randall Lane |url=https://www.c-span.org/person/?randalllane|access-date=September 3, 2020|website=www.c-span.org}}
Early life
While attending Briarcliff High School in 1985, Lane wrote an article for the New York Times detailing his ordeal of getting tickets for a Bruce Springsteen concert. He served as co-editor of his high school's newspaper during this time.{{Cite news |last=Lane |first=Randall |date=1985-09-01 |title=SPEAKING PERSONALLY; SURVIVING A BATTLE FOR SPRINGSTEEN'S TICKETS |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/09/01/nyregion/speaking-personally-surviving-a-battle-for-springsteens-tickets.html |access-date=2025-02-28 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}
Career
Lane edited his college newspaper, The Daily Pennsylvanian at the University of Pennsylvania{{where|date=October 2020}} before interning with The Wall Street Journal.{{Cite web |last=Leavitt |first=Mollie |date=June 24, 2019 |title=Q&A: Randall Lane, Chief Content Officer @ Forbes |url=https://medium.com/the-idea/q-a-randall-lane-chief-content-officer-forbes-43fe2a717068 |access-date=August 14, 2020 |website=Medium |language=en}} Lane received the Columbia Scholastic Press Association’s top non-fiction prize for a 1988 profile he wrote on former Philadelphia mayor Frank Rizzo.{{Cite web |last=Family |first=Cheryl |date=April 12, 1988 |title='DP' wins 13 national awards |url=https://dparchives.library.upenn.edu/?a=d&d=tdp19880412-01.2.9&srpos=5&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-Frank+Rizzo+Randall+Lane------ |access-date=2025-02-28 |website=The Daily Pennsylvanian}}
After leaving college, he was hired as a fact checker for Forbes, and thereafter was promoted to be a staff writer. In 1995, when he was 27, he was promoted to Washington Bureau Chief, before leaving to edit three publications, P.O.V., Trader Monthly,{{Cite web|last=Schmidt|first=Michael|date=August 16, 2006|title=Traders' Night Out|url=https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2006/08/16/traders-night-out/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=September 13, 2020|website=The New York Times|language=en}} and Dealmaker.{{Cite web|last=Kelly|first=Keith J.|date=December 6, 2017|title=Forbes promotes its top magazine editor to content chief|url=https://nypost.com/2017/12/06/forbes-promotes-its-top-magazine-editor-to-content-chief/|access-date=August 5, 2020|website=New York Post|language=en-US}}
He founded P.O.V. with a Forbes colleague and the publication was considered by AdWeek as its start-up of the year in 1998.{{Cite web |last=Lonkevich |first=Susan |date=1998-05-01 |title=Start Me Up |url=https://thepenngazette.com/start-me-up/ |access-date=2025-02-28 |website=The Pennsylvania Gazette |language=en-US}}
At Trader Monthly, a bimonthly lifestyle magazine where Lane was the editor-in-chief, Lane created a 30 Under 30 list featuring what his magazine considered the 30 best financial traders at the time.
= 2010s =
When Lane rejoined Forbes in 2011, he created the annual Forbes 30 Under 30 list of up and coming figures in multiple business sectors. He then partnered with Warren Buffett to create the Forbes 400 Summit on Philanthropy, which he and Buffett have co-chaired for more than a decade.{{Cite web |last=Lane |first=Randall |title=On Warren Buffett’s 90th Birthday, Private Wisdom From The Oracle—Delivered In 90 Seconds Flat |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/randalllane/2020/08/30/on-warren-buffetts-90th-birthday-private-wisdom-from-the-oracle-delivered-in-90-seconds-flat/ |access-date=2025-02-28 |website=Forbes |language=en}}
Lane wrote a book titled The Zeroes: My Misadventures in the Decade Wall Street Went Insane.{{Cite web |last=Task |first=Aaron |date=October 11, 2011 |title=Randall Lane: Wall St. Protestors Don't Hate Success, They Hate Big Rewards for Failure |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/randall-lane-wall-st-protestors-don-t-hate-140324959.html |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=September 3, 2020 |website=Yahoo Finance |language=en-US}} In the book, Lane laid out similarities of some Wall Street traders and Major League Baseball players in their views on the ethics of cheating.{{Cite web|last=Martino|first=MICHAEL O'KEEFE, Andy|title=Randall Lane not breaking any news about Lenny Dykstra and steroids in new tome about Wall Street|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/randall-lane-not-breaking-news-lenny-dykstra-steroids-new-tome-wall-street-article-1.185427|access-date=September 3, 2020|website=nydailynews.com}} He interviewed Lenny Dykstra, about his use of steroids while playing with the New York Mets, for the book. The New York Daily News stated of the book that "Lane does a terrific job{{nbsp}}... putting things in context". In a review for Inc, Jack Covert stated "What Michael Lewis did for ’80s traders in Liar’s Poker, Randall Lane has now done for trader rock stars of The Zeroes."{{Cite news |last=Covert |first=Jack |date=July 26, 2010 |title=Review: The Zeroes |url=https://www.inc.com/articles/2010/07/book-review-the-zeroes.html |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240219143348/https://www.inc.com/articles/2010/07/book-review-the-zeroes.html |archive-date=2024-02-19 |access-date=2025-02-28 |work=Inc.com |language=en}}
Lane was responsible for the reorganization of Forbes' contributor network. The restructure saw it shift from a model where most writers volunteered their time to an all-paid platform with a guaranteed minimum pay.{{Cite news |last=Mullin |first=Benjamin |date=2018-02-14 |title=Forbes Will Pay All of Its Contributors, but Purge the Worst |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/forbes-will-pay-all-of-its-contributors-but-purge-the-worst-1518611400 |access-date=2025-02-28 |work=Wall Street Journal |language=en-US |issn=0099-9660}}
= 2020s =
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Lane took part in a multi-part virtual innovation summit hosted by the University of Waterloo.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Virtual Summit 2020|url=https://uwaterloo.ca/waterloo-innovation-summit/speakers|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=September 3, 2020|website=University of Waterloo|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Speakers|url=https://uwaterloo.ca/waterloo-innovation-summit/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=September 3, 2020|website=University of Waterloo|language=en}} In 2020, The New York Times identified him as one of the 922 most powerful people in the United States of America.{{Cite news|last1=Lu|first1=Denise|last2=Huang|first2=Jon|last3=Seshagiri|first3=Ashwin|last4=Park|first4=Haeyoun|last5=Griggs|first5=Troy|date=September 9, 2020|title=Faces of Power: 80% Are White, Even as U.S. Becomes More Diverse|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/09/09/us/powerful-people-race-us.html|access-date=September 13, 2020|issn=0362-4331}} Lane won an Emmy award as executive producer of the documentary WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn.{{cite web |title=43rd Annual Documentaries - 9-29-22 |url=https://theemmys.tv/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/43rd-Annual-Documentaries-Winners-9-29-22.pdf |access-date=September 29, 2022 |website=The Emmys TV}}
Personal life
Lane was born in 1968.{{Cite web|last=Schmidt|first=Lucinda|date=October 5, 2010|title=Profile: Randall Lane|url=https://www.smh.com.au/money/investing/profile-randall-lane-20101005-1652f.html|access-date=August 5, 2020|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|language=en}}
He is divorced and has two daughters, Sabrina and Chloe.{{Cite web|last=Weiss|first=Suzy|date=August 19, 2020|title=NYC dad creates summer camp for bored daughter, her friends|url=https://nypost.com/2020/08/19/dad-creates-sleep-away-camp-to-help-teens-survive-covid-19-summer/|access-date=September 11, 2020|website=New York Post|language=en-US}} During the COVID-19 pandemic, he organized and hosted a four-week summer camp for his daughters and their friends, hiring teachers out of work due to the pandemic to instruct them in core subjects.
= Kanye West incident =
On September 16, 2020, Lane was doxxed in a Twitter rant by American musician Kanye West. West tweeted a screenshot of a phone number labeled "Randall Forbes" and wrote "if any of my fans want to call a white supremacist... this is the editor of Forbes".{{Cite web|last=Leskin|first=Paige|title=Twitter took 30 minutes to remove Kanye West's tweet doxxing a top magazine editor|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/kanye-west-twitter-doxxing-fobes-editor-tweet-violates-policies-2020-9|access-date=2022-01-04|website=Business Insider|language=en-US}} Twitter deleted West's tweet after 30 minutes and suspended his account for violating Twitter's private information policy.{{Cite web|last=Kemp|first=Dylan|date=2020-09-17|title=Kanye West's Twitter Suspended After Leaking Journalist's Phone Number|url=https://thesource.com/2020/09/17/kanyes-twitter-suspended-after-leaking-journalists-phone-number/|access-date=2022-01-04|website=The Source|language=en-US}} Lane had previously interviewed West about his 2020 presidential ambitions which Forbes published in July 2020.{{Cite web|last=Lane|first=Randall|title=Kanye West Says He's Done With Trump—Opens Up About White House Bid, Damaging Biden And Everything In Between|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/randalllane/2020/07/08/kanye-west-says-hes-done-with-trump-opens-up-about-white-house-bid-damaging-biden-and-everything-in-between/|access-date=2022-01-04|website=Forbes|language=en}}