Quote magazine is 25. Editor Sjoerd van Stokkum talks to NRC: ‘Seventy percent of our readers are wannebe millionaires.’

Van Stokkum, who is leaving at the end of the year, fondly relates what it is all about at the magazine: ‘We enjoy capitalism. But the minute we find people operating in a grey area we come down on them like a ton of bricks’. Going after smooth talking little men who promise huge returns on clever investments will remain important task at Quote, he says.
The demographic of the magazine is changing, however. The readership is getting older and Van Stokkum is trying to lure younger readers by focusing on career opportunities. The magazine needs its own particular ‘sound’. That means interviews with top managers are out. ‘Top managers aren’t allowed to say anything and so the interviews become boring and predictable. The pr brigades are the death of journalism.’
One thing that won’t change is the magazine’s annual top 500 of the richest people in the country. The list traditionally upsets those who are on it: they are not worth that much, their privacy is being invaded, it’s a hit list for potential kidnappers. ‘We are promoting clarity and openness’, Van Stokkum says. ‘The Netherlands Inc is not in the Hague but on this list.’
The magazine is celebrating its quarter of a century with a special 260 page edition. Nina Storms (formerly Brink) who has a turbulent history with Quote, former editor Jort Kelder who is not on friendly terms with the present editor and picky John de Mol all agreed to be interviewed.