Our inaugural Forbes Awards highlight the top stories, people, trends and companies from the past year that brought a spark to their respective industries while providing us with an opportunistic glimpse of the future.
Artificial intelligence made exponential leaps in 2020. Self-driving vehicles are now creeping into the mainstream while advances in machine learning are changing the way we write code and discover drugs. Big A.I. firms like San Francisco-based OpenAI and Alphabet subsidiary DeepMind announced new …
This past year was a whirlwind for fintech. The pandemic hit many businesses like a hurricane, with lenders suffering the most damage. But as government stimulus checks hit bank accounts and consumers began buying everything online, some of the most popular personal finance apps and payments …
Sure, 2020 will be remembered as the year of the pandemic, but it was also a vibrant period in transportation’s ongoing revolution, with ambitious entrepreneurs rolling out innovations in electric vehicles, self-driving and sensor tech, and delivery services. Here are the year’s best in the …
Manufacturing changes slowly, but the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated adoption of technologies like A.I.-enabled software and robotics that could keep factories humming—and workers safe. Companies offering new materials got venture funding, and the number of startups using synthetic biology for …
The world of celebrity revolves around premieres, tours and red carpets, but in 2020, movie debuts were postponed, concerts were canceled, and award shows took place on Zoom. Stars who wanted to stay relevant—and make money—had to get creative. Here are our picks for the best products, most …
This past year ushered in a series of changes in corporate America, most notably for diversity heads. What started as innocuously as any other year soon spiraled into a global pandemic, a shift to remote work and sweeping civil unrest. The summer’s widespread protests forced corporations and small …
In 2020, the streaming revolution swept Hollywood, minting both the first serious competitor to Netflix (Disney+) and a full-fledged disaster (Quibi). Here are our picks for the best products, the most intriguing people and the most interesting trends in media this past year. Best Product: …
When the lockdowns started, millions of Americans began hitting the road. In America, car dealerships lobbied to be deemed essential, and those seeking a new automobile looked for the best way to buy a car during the pandemic as well as vehicles that could go the distance. And while RV travel …
The year the world stood still was devastating for the travel industry. Countless flights were grounded, hotels were shuttered, and cruise ships became hot zones. But as lockdowns eased and Covid-19 safety protocols were implemented, remote getaways, road trips and “workations” became part of a new …
It was a banner year for the commercial space industry. Even in the midst of a pandemic and while piling up big economic losses, companies continued to expand into the final frontier. One big milestone: In late May, Elon Musk’s SpaceX ferried two astronauts to the International Space Station, the …
If it weren’t for a healthy dose of vices this year, many more Americans would have cracked under the pressures of the Covid-19 pandemic. For those companies providing stress relief, it’s been a stellar year of record sales and an unprecedented number of new (and presumably very satisfied) …
Need a drink? The world certainly did in 2020. With all the anxiety caused by the pandemic, politics and a perilous economy, millions of us sought comfort from the bottom of a glass. And since bars and restaurants were closed for much of the year, online sales of wine and spirits spiked in …
There is no product or newcomer or disruptive innovator that has exerted greater dominance in American education this year than San Jose, California-based Zoom. When the pandemic abruptly drove education online in March, everything from kindergarten classes to graduate seminars in Norse literature …
As offices and stores moved online in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Zoom and its cloud peers kept the lights on, providing safe and sometimes sleek ways for people to collaborate and connect. In 2020, the much-discussed “digital transformation” facing traditional industries was no longer …
The coronavirus has made Americans appreciate just how essential the food industry is while simultaneously exposing its weakest parts. As America’s largest employer, the food industry saw millions of workers suddenly land on the frontlines of the pandemic at supermarkets, slaughterhouses, food …
After a year of endless disasters, distractions and sub-zero oil prices, it’s time to look back at the people and companies that defined the energy sector in 2020. You will find no Gretas or Elons in our inaugural Forbes Energy Awards, but if you read all the way to the end, you’ll learn what the …
It feels like a decade’s worth of workplace changes have happened in 2020. With the sudden switch to remote work, many companies found themselves struggling to maintain a sense of normalcy. But those on our inaugural Forbes Careers Awards list not only pivoted but capitalized on the new future of …
Our favorite photographs of entrepreneurs, billionaires, celebrities and frontline workers as they navigated a year like none other, all originally published on Forbes. Exhale. It’s time for a fresh perspective. Join us as we turn our lens on the champions and fresh faces of determination, …
We had it all this year: a global pandemic, a bitter presidential election and one of the fastest market plunges in a century. There was unbelievable uncertainty throughout most of the year, but amid it all, everyone on Wall Street—from billionaire investors to hidebound millennial day traders in …
From Kylie Jenner’s web of lies to a fighter-jet-flying payments tycoon to the heartbreaking final months of former Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, Forbes writers illuminated the lives of some of the world’s wealthiest people this year. Here are our favorite stories from 2020 about the country’s …
The end of the year in cybersecurity mirrored the wider world by concluding in catastrophe: With more than 10,000 people dying every day from Covid-19, a highly sophisticated electronic espionage campaign targeted U.S. government agencies and critical private industry, all customers of a single …
With most of us stuck at home on the sofa in 2020, it was a boom time for social media. Some people used it to connect with friends, family and coworkers during the long, forced seclusion. Many others saw it as a safe haven, a place to turn to for entertainment and diversion—giving rise to a new …
In 2020, we stopped taking technology for granted. It was a year when techies filled in as governments around the world offered little guidance and less support. During lockdown, Apple’s iPhone 12 launch wasn’t nearly as important as a home broadband connection that could withstand the …
For the first time ever, we are publishing the Forbes Crypto Awards. Not everyone will be happy they’re on the list. Fed chairman Jerome Powell takes the honors as our person of the year: In a pandemic year when the Fed printed so much stimulus money that the central bank saw its balance sheet …
This year offered an endless smorgasbord of woes, including extra helpings of peril for the hospitality industry. With more than 32,000 restaurants in the United States closing their doors since the start of the pandemic and with people unable to get basic kitchen staples, the appetite for …
Winners and losers in sports are often decided by who makes the best adjustments during a game or event, but 2020 required pivots on the fly off the field like never before. The NBA and the NHL created “bubbles” to finish their seasons; ESPN and other networks rushed out documentaries, like The Last …
By Alexandra Wilson, Alexandra Sternlicht and Brianne Garrett Young people got a pretty bad rap in 2020. They were deemed the demographic most likely to eschew health guidelines and become superspreaders—sometimes by throwing super-parties. But the digital-native generation was also the best poised to …
Looking good this year mattered far less than feeling good. Lower down on the list of trends 2020 will be remembered for is how the world let its hair get shaggy—and how many stopped wearing pants to business meetings. As the pandemic shuttered retailers across the country, fashion and beauty …
In a year marked by supply-chain shocks, bankruptcies and the occasional confrontations with a mask-less customer, we’re looking on the bright side. Here are the year’s best products, most intriguing people and most exciting trends from the world of retail. Best Product: Toilet paper Nobody could …
