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....
Forbes Awards
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.

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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...
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,...
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...
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 make...
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...
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...
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 car...
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...
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:...
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...
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...
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...
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 the...
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 suddenly...
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 inaugural...
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 our...
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....
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 all,...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 meetings....
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 and...