People

By Guy D. Garcia

Already a consummate host famed for his megaparties, Malcolm Forbes, 67, last week managed to top even himself. The publishing tycoon pulled out all the stops at his 75-acre estate in Far Hills, N.J., for the 70th birthday of Forbes magazine, which sports the motto "Capitalist Tool." At dusk 100 bagpipers marched from the hills toward a 13-ft. by 20-ft. replica of a Scottish castle floodlighted and surrounded by artificial fog -- and that was just the dinner announcement. Then some 1,100 VIP guests -- including Elizabeth Taylor, Henry Kissinger, Barbara Walters, Jerry Hall and Tom Brokaw -- dined and danced in a circus-size tent and watched a fireworks show set to music by Gershwin and Beethoven. Wearing a Forbes tartan kilt and a big grin, Forbes admitted it was "absolutely the biggest party I've ever thrown. We originally thought we'd wait until the 75th, but I decided to have one at 70. That way we only have to wait five years until the next one." On second thought, make that capitalist party tool.

With reporting by David E. Thigpen/New York, with other bureaus