Forbes Australia has appointed Anna Hannaford as managing director, with founder Michael Lane stepping back from the CEO role as the publisher celebrates its biggest year since launching in 2022.
Success Publishing has named Anna Hannaford managing director of Forbes Australia, handing her responsibility for the publisher’s strategy and performance following a year of growth across readership, membership and brand awareness.
Hannaford, who has served as chief operating officer since Forbes Australia launched in September 2022, will now lead its commercial, events, marketing and operations teams.
Founder Michael Lane, who brought the Forbes licence to Australia alongside Hannaford more than four years ago, will move from chief executive to a non-executive founder role, focusing on the board and the business’s long-term strategy.
The leadership change comes as Forbes Australia reports its strongest year since launch, with new research pointing to growth across several key brand measures.
Roy Morgan readership data shows the publication’s print readership increased 27 per cent to 386,000 in the 12 months to June 2026. Meanwhile, its Forbes Club membership community for high-net-worth business owners and investors has grown 150 per cent over the past year.
Separate research from independent brand tracking platform Tracksuit found consumer awareness of Forbes Australia increased six percentage points to 56 per cent in the 12 months to September 2026. Consideration, investigation, usage and preference each rose by five percentage points.
The publisher also said all its events sold out this year, with waiting lists already building for 2027. Some 60 per cent of its revenue now comes from outside traditional advertising.
Hannaford said her priorities in the new role would include “doubling down on what’s working”, with increased investment in local storytelling, its BrandVoice content studio and the development of new revenue streams. Several senior appointments are also expected in the coming months.
“Other media companies chase scale. We went after quality and a deep relationship with our readers, and our partners have followed,” she said.
“When we launched, plenty of people told us print was the wrong bet. Four years later, our print readership continues to buck the global trend by growing almost every survey since launch and showing the highest year-on-year growth of any major magazine in the country.”
Hannaford added that the publisher had also taken *Forbes Australia* “off the page and into the room” through events designed to bring readers together to learn and do business.
“When independent research shows your brand growing across every stage of the funnel – from awareness through to preference – that’s the market confirming the strategy,” she said.
Lane said Hannaford had been instrumental in shaping the business since its inception.
“Anna has been instrumental in shaping the business from day one. She has the vision and the commercial instinct to take Forbes Australia into its next stage of growth, and I’m confident that under her leadership it will become one of the country’s most forward-thinking publishers,” he said.
Forbes Australia editor-in-chief Sarah O’Carroll also backed the appointment, crediting Hannaford with building a leadership team that has remained largely intact since launch.
“Anna has a rare gift for bringing people together and backing them to do their best work,” O’Carroll said.
“I can’t think of anyone better placed to drive its next chapter.”
