Here’s a portion of the note:

Today Fortune magazine published a story on Forbes with the clear intention of disrupting the business of its most formidable competitor.

Fortune was aware that this was highly confidential, private information and of no value to release to the public. Though the intention is to harm our business, it will not adversely impact Forbes because it highlights a very difficult time in the past when all the media industry was going through unprecedented upheaval.

Forbes adds that the company is sending out a public response too. Like we mentioned, we were hoping for a Forbes article about the finances at Fortune, but looks like we’ll have to settle for imagining Mr. Forbes kicking back and brushing his shoulders off.

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According to The Daily Telegraph, Steve Forbes may roll out a Forbes Europe title in 2011.  He cites a rise in European reader interest in business and forecasts an economic recovery as reasons to launch the new magazine.  Forbes said European advertisers are attracted to the prospects of Forbes Europe and the timing for a new edition is perfect:

Even though everyone is focused on Ireland, Greece, Portugal and Spain, there is a recovery coming. And this is precisely the right time to move in. We want it [Forbes Europe] to be entrepreneurial. This is the right time for a European magazine.

Other than their U.S. version, the company publishes Forbes Asia.  The two titles have attracted a total audience of over six million readers.  Forbes Europe headquarters will be located in London or Paris.

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Mike Perlis

“With the arrival of Mike Perlis, Forbes has been joined by someone who is a proven leader, with great successes in his impressive career. We are fortunate he will be leading the company as CEO, charged with taking a great brand to greater, expanded success,” Forbes said. ”Mike is a well-liked, known and admired force in our business. His experience, coupled with the range of arenas he has spent time in, are the ideal skills that Forbes demands in the days and years moving forward. He will be joining the company on December 1st.”

Perlis joins Forbes Media from SoftBank Capital, a venture capital firm focused on high growth internet based businesses, where he served as a General Partner.  He focused on content businesses including, Beliefnet, Huffington Post, Associated Content, and Buzzfeed.  Prior to joining Softbank, Perlis served as president and CEO of Ziff- Davis Publishing, president of TVSM and president of the Playboy Publishing Group.

Photo Credit: Walter Smith

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All Things D: In reporting its earnings today, Time Warner said that revenues in its Time Inc. magazine division were down, but not as much as they had been in previous quarters.

E&P: Marcia Bullard president of USA Weekend, USA TODAY‘s weekend edition, is retiring at the end of March. She will be replaced by publisher Charles Gabrielson, who will be adding the title of president to his responsibilities.

MarketWatch: Steve Forbes: online revenues won’t replace advertising.

Advertising Age: Like Time Inc.’s earnings, magazines are still reporting declines in circulation, they’re just not as steep as they have been in recent months.

Observer: A Harper’s Magazine exec eavesdropped while his boss was being interviewed by New York Times reporter Stephanie Clifford.

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Last year’s move to 90 Fifth Ave, the home of Forbes magazine’s dotcom business, looked to combine the resources of the print and Web teams. But since then, the business magazine has dramatically slashed its staff and Forbes.com lost its CEO. As Kelly reported today, at the time of the move, Steve Forbes said the company had “outgrown its space.” So does a move back reflect how much Forbes has shrunk in the past year?

Another interesting tidbit from Kelly’s Forbes item today involved additional cutbacks at the magazine:

“The slide in ad pages at Forbes — they fell more than 30 percent last year — is prompting a change in the way the magazine is bound together. Instead of being glued together in a binding method known as ‘perfect bound,’ the pages will be stapled. It is a tacit acknowledgement that the magazine will remain slimmer for a longer period of time.”

We’ve reached out to Forbes for comment, but have yet to hear from them. If you have any info, send us an email or drop a tip in the anonymous box at right.

Read more: Forbes Staff Shuffle –New York Post

Previously: Forbes Layoffs Decimate Staff

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This week’s cuts — which were said to affect as many as 100 employees company wide — are just the latest in a series of changes Forbes has made in the past year. Last November, the company shuttered ForbesAuto.com, laying off its employees. A sister site, ForbesTraveler.com, remained open — until this week. We’re told that site has now been shut down as well, with its content being woven into Forbes.com.

Another round of layoffs hit the company in January, as Forbes prepared to merge its print and online editorial operations. Comparing lists of names of those cut then compared to this week, however, it became obvious that there was a shift in the weather. And speaking with some of those employees who got the boot yesterday, we knew we were on to something.

continued…

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We just learned that a memo went out to staff this afternoon from Steve Forbes explaining the situation:

“We — and the entire media world — have been hit hard by both the severe recession and the seismic shifts wrought by the Web. Given these dramatic events, further layoffs, unfortunately, are necessary across the entire organization…While these are acutely challenging times, Forbes Media is making the strategic and organizational changes that will enable us not only to weather these storms, but ultimately to emerge as a stronger company, well-positioned to expand and prosper in the years ahead.”

Although the layoffs are promised to come from “across the entire organization” reporters from Forbes magazine and Forbes.com might have a glimmer of hope: BusinessInsider.com is hiring.

Update: We’ve heard that layoffs haven’t started yet, but it looks like the top level managers may already know who they have to cut and the bloodletting might start tomorrow.

Know anything? Send us an email.

Forbes’ full memo, after the jump

continued…

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Then Steve Forbes sent an internal memo to all staffers announcing the decision.

“In the entrepreneurial spirit that Forbes has always championed, Jim will be setting up his own media management company,” Forbes said of Spanfeller’s future plans.

Spanfeller himself had a quote in the memo: “The world of media has changed rapidly in the past 10 years and the velocity of the change promises only to increase going forward. I’ve had a great run at Forbes and have been deeply involved in the breakthroughs and transformations between traditional and digital media. Now I see a huge opportunity to have my own media management business that will help other traditional media companies make the most of their enormous prospects in digital venues, taking all I have learned here in the past decade and applying on a wider horizon. Forbes.com has truly been a truly wonderful ride and I am deeply in debt to the Forbes family for letting me be a part of it.”

Spanfeller will stay on through the transition period of a new CEO, probably through Labor Day, the memo added. Forbes has been battered by the recession, and its gone through layoffs and imposed furloughs this year to compensate. Who can come on as CEO to save this (most likely) sinking ship?

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The New York Post‘s Keith Kelly reported today that Elevation Partners’ co-founder Roger McNamee has stepped down from Forbes’ board and will be replaced by Bre Pearlman, who has “a reputation as an aggressive cost-cutter.”

McNamee (left) was the main driver behind Elevation’s purchase of a 40 percent stake in the Forbes family-owned company two and half years ago but, as Kelly pointed out, his departure from the board may show that the company’s chance for growth is slim.

We’re hearing that the mood within the Forbes editorial offices — which recently completed a merger between the online and magazine staffs — is nervous, which former Forbes staffer Peter Kafka has also reported.

Update: A Forbes publicist sent us the memo that went out to staff today from Steve Forbes.

“We fully understand the concerns that the present difficult environment causes,” the memo said. “We want to thank everyone for their hard work. We profoundly believe that the steps being taken, not only short-term painful ones, but also new growth initiatives, will make Forbes stronger than ever when economic recovery comes.”

The full memo after the jump

continued…

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Over the next few weeks, the sales and marketing groups of Forbes magazine and Forbes.com will be combined into three specific units under the Forbes Media umbrella…The leaders of the newly established groups will report to The Office of the Chairman, which will consist of Steve Forbes, Chairman and CEO of Forbes Media; Timothy Forbes, President and COO of Forbes Media; and Jim Spanfeller, President and CEO of Forbes.com.

WWD says that in total 43 people were laid off but they mostly came from the business side meaning that “the edit side is soon to follow.”

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The magazine, called ForbesLife Executive Woman, is slated to debut in October.

Forbes group president and publisher James Berrien said: “Moira Forbes is the perfect publisher for this venture, having helped mightily in building the success and growth of ForbesLife over the past three years. Equally important, she is a successful and rising female executive within the company. Her insight and efforts will prove extremely valuable as we launch this great new publication.”

Read: she’s the boss’ daughter.

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