Forbes ME Pinkerton to retire

Stewart Pinkerton, who was named managing editor of Forbes magazine in October, announced his retirement on Friday, according to a memo obtained by Owen Thomas of Valleywag.

The memo, from editor in chief William Baldwin, states, “For a long time we have depended on Stew in many areas: getting the magazine out on time and under budget, recruiting new talent to the editorial staff and overseeing foreign licensee editions. In recent years he was also the bridge between magazine and online editorial staffs, smoothing the way for this year’s integration.

“Prior to Forbes, he spent 24 years at the Wall Street Journal, part of that as Deputy Managing Editor. There are a lot of great journalists who owe a first or an important stepping stone in their careers to a hiring decision by Stew. Among them: Mary Ellen Egan, Dan Hertzberg, Dennis Kneale, Laura Landro, Jane Mayer and Jim Stewart.

“Stew has been an important colleague, and we are grateful that he’ll continue his association with Forbes as a Contributing Editor. Please join me in thanking Stewart for his many contributions over the years. We wish him all the best in the years to come.”

Read more here. As deputy managing editor for the Journal, Pinkerton coordinated the reporting and editing of the paper’s insider trading coverage that won two Journal reporters the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism.