India, Aug. 13 -- Forbes has fired its top editor, Randall Lane, after it was discovered that he had secretly taken $6 million from the founder of a company that does business with the publication.

The New York Times was the first to report the development. In a piece published August 12, it reported that Lane, 58, was fired from Forbes last month. He had served as the magazine's chief content officer.

Randall Lane received $6 million in payment from RJ Shook, whose company, Shook Research, has partnered with Forbes since 2016 to publish wealth adviser rankings.

The payment came after Shook sold a majority stake in the research firm to private equity firm PPC Enterprises last August, according to two people familiar with the transactio...