The top editor of Forbes left his job last month and was reportedly dismissed for accepting $6m from the founder of a firm that does business with the magazine.

The New York Times reported this week that Randall Lane was paid by RJ Shook, whose company, Shook Research, worked with Forbes since 2016 to publish rankings of wealth advisers. The payment was made after Shook sold a majority stake in the company to a private equity firm a year ago.

A internal email dated 23 July and reviewed by the Associated Press confirmed that Lane, who had been editor and chief content officer, no longer worked for the company. It provided no other details of his departure. Lane had worked for Forbes for nearly 16 years and as its top editor since 2017.

A person who works at Forbes and spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue told the AP that the staff discovered the apparent reasons behind the firing by reading the Times story. A subsequent email sent out this week said the company could not comment on the matter further.

The Times quoted a person familiar with Lane’s thinking as saying he considered the payment a gift in return for advice he had provided Shook over the years.

“‘I made a mistake, and I take responsibility for it,” Lane said in a statement to the Times. “I should have disclosed the gift and failing to was a serious error in judgment. I deeply regret that, and I lost the job and team I love because of it.”

Lane and a spokesperson for Forbes did not respond to requests for comment from the AP.

It is unclear why Shook paid Lane. But the company and Forbes apparently had a close relationship. On its website, for example, Shook Research lists 12 rankings of wealth advisers and management teams in partnership with Forbes.

Forbes’s statement of editorial values and standards says that the company “prohibit[s] all staff members and contributors from accepting compensation, privileges or favors of any kind from people, companies or groups featured in their coverage”.

The Times report comes at a low moment for public trust in the media. A majority of Americans – 57% – said they have low confidence in journalists to act in the best interests of the public, according to a Pew Research Center analysis in February.

Forbes was founded in 1917 and developed into an influential biweekly account of corporate America, putting giants like Steve Jobs and Warren Buffett on its cover.