Groundbreaking journalist and feminist icon Gloria Steinem died Wednesday at her home in New York City, according to a statement posted to her Instagram page early Thursday morning. She was 92. “Gloria’s near-century on earth were years well-lived, and she continued working for equality until the very end,” the statement said. “She spent her recent years doing the two things she loved most: being in community with others and writing.”

I could continue to give you the facts about Gloria Steinem’s life and work—she cofounded New York Magazine and Ms. Magazine and pioneered many political movements, including (but not limited to) Voters for Choice, Women’s Action Alliance, and the National Women’s Political Caucus—but instead, I want to focus on Steinem’s impact.

It is not hyperbole to say that I would not be the editor of ForbesWomen were it not for her work, and I know from some recent Talking Circles she hosted at her home, that many female founders, investors and CEOs feel similarly. Her writing gave voice to inequalities that impeded female power, and her political advocacy helped women obtain so many of the rights—including the right to having credit cards and mortgages in our own names—that we now have today.

“It was clear to me how important the media was and how absent from the media women generally were,” Steinem told me during a spring 2025 Talking Circle. I’d asked her about the founding of Ms. Magazine, and she said, “I realized that there was a real need for a........

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