Which magazines or newspapers target the richest or most powerful demographic? The only criteria is that it must be available to the general public, but it does not have to be available at the local newsstand. Judging from the advertisements in the magazine, the Economist is likely up there, as it is filled with advertisements for luxury brands that cost thousands of dollars per item, real estate in the most expensive cities in the world, job postings for senior management positions in large companies or government organizations, etc.
Years ago, someone got their demographics comically wrong and started sending me a magazine that showed only 100 ft and larger yachts for sale. IIRC most (maybe all) the listings were for 7-figure prices. I can’t find it, and don’t remember the name (it was early- or pre- internet).
There was no content to the magazine other than glossy ads, so I don’t know if it fits the OPs definitions. But their target demographic had to be pretty high up the food chain.
I found a website called Fraser Yachts that has a dropdown box for minimum that only goes down to 30 meters and the lowest price is $5m.
My life’s dream is to get a job advertised in the Economist. .
The Robb Report has to be on the list. For several years now, they’re displayed inside a plastic bag on the newsstand, but there was a time it was loose, and you could read it sans bag.
I loved the classifieds; they advertised islands for sale, planes, exotic cars (one was a Ferrari–I forget the model, something like a 1962 Daytona or something–originally for $2 million, then after a couple of months, the price was reduced – to $1.75 million), and so on. It had definite snob appeal.
I had definitely forgotten about magazines that are specifically about selling some expensive items, such as yachts. I find those interesting, but I was not thinking of those in the OP.
I suppose the canonical example for newspapers would be the Financial Times, which is read by, to quote Jim Hacker, ‘people who own the country.’
The New York Times should be on such a list, based on all their ads for multi-million dollar real estate, furs, jewelry and other luxury items.
It’s mildly hilarious (in a Radical Chic sort of way) that these ads are running practically side by side with editorials calling out income inequality.
Also the The Wall Street Journal. Lots of ads for amazingly expensive goods.
Cigar Aficionado maybe? It isn’t all ads; it covers everything from cars to entertainment to sports. But its target sure doesn’t seem to be the middle class.
One British example is political satire magazine Private Eye - it is commonly found in newsagents, but is also read by the UK political ‘elite’ (I’m pretty sure London Mayor Boris Johnson was recently caught reading it in parliament). The general populace read it for dirt-digging on the rich and powerful - I guess the rich and powerful read it for this too, and also to see if they’ve been found out…
Barron’s
It doesn’t meet the “available to the general public” requirement, but I assume Black Ink has stellar demographics. It’s only available to those who have an American Express “black card” (properly called the Centurion Card), for which the initiation fee is $7,500 and the annual fee is $2,500.
Another magazine with high-end demographics is Avenue magazine, the readers of which have average household income of $1.7 million. It’s distributed to people in Manhattan, so it doesn’t seem to be available to the general public. Edited to add, I believe it’s only available by controlled circulation, meaning you have to be vetted before they’ll send it to you. Computerworld (which was also available via controlled circulation) used to be promiscuous in who they considered worthy but I think these guys are pickier.
On the other hand, Hamptons Magazine is freely available and its readers have household income of over $200,000
OK, this is fun. Yachting magazine readers have average household income of about $410,000 (PDF warning). And then there’s Nonstop, targeted to owners and prospective owners of Gulfstream jets. The media kit (another PDF warning) doesn’t mention household income but does talk about net worths of at least $250 million.
Wall Street Journal has some magazines that come in it periodicalls - WSJ is for rich people, but WSJ Money is for REALLY rich people. If you just have a couple million dollars to invest it is not for you.
Go to a newstand in any major US city and find the magazine named after the city you are in.
That magazine will have ads for luxurious and expensive items. The articles will all be about which pricy restaurant is the current rage and which day spa you absolutely have to try out.
If you are not in the top 10% of earners in that area, very little in the magazine will be aimed at you.
Forbes
Fortune
Harvard Business Review
I got to ride in the company jet once. We had to stop with short notice in Cincinnati, and hung out in the private jet owner’s lounge for a while (way better than the poor people’s side of the airport!) and there were a bunch of “Private Jet Owner’s Quarterly*” periodicals that probably fit the OP’s criteria.
You would think they’d want something special.