Sloan remembers Michaels as a great editor

Fortune senior editor at large Allan Sloan remembers Wednesday what former Forbes editor Jim Michaels — who died Tuesday at the age of 86 — taught him about business journalism during his two stints at the magazine.

Sloan wrote, “Unlike many of his competitors, Michaels didn’t particularly lionize corporate chieftains. His focus was on representing small investors’ interests, throwing rocks and being irreverent. He knew that despite being journalists, we were in show business, and needed to produce stories that people would actually read and talk about, rather than writing stories designed to impress other journalists.

“Even though I last worked for him almost 20 years ago and we fought like cats and dogs — a cliché he’d edit out of this piece if he had a chance — both during and after my Forbes days, we stayed in touch. In our final lunch, last year, he was physically frail, but mentally robust, urging me to write how some 401(k) investors are getting ripped off because of investment choices foisted off on them by employers. I should have done it.

“Working for Jim was more than occasionally maddening, but he was the greatest editor I’ve ever seen or ever expect to see. He used to say he could cut at least 15% out of any story, no matter how tightly written. In his memory, I’m making this 15% shorter than my normal space. So maybe he’s gotten the last word after all.”

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