Martha Stewart is first self-made billionaire from America. She has been listed in “30 most beautiful women” in people’s magazine. Her company, “Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia”, has been nominated for 18 Emmy Awards since its establishment in 1947.
Net Worth
Martha owns a property portfolio all over the world with net worth of $100 million.
In 1997, she acquired 12 –a bedroom home in Maine Skylands that originally belonged to Edsel Ford. In 2015 she bought the 7-acre property next door for $5.8 million.
In New York, Stewart owns a 152-acre estate named Cantitoe Corners. As her divorce alumina with Andrew Stewart, Martha acquired oceanfront property and later sold it for $16.5 million.
Martha owns multiple flats in a building on Perry Street of New York. Her daughter Alexis is an occupant in one of the falts and the market value of this property is around $53 million.
Early Life and Childhood
Martha Helen Stewart, née Martha Helen Kostyara was born in August 1941 at New Jersey to Edward and Martha Ruszkowski Kostyra. She moved with her family to Nutely at the age of three from where she completed her high school and continued with her studies at Columbia University.
As a child she took a keen interest in cooking and gardening, the traits she inherited from her parents. She also developed skills of canning and preserving from her grandparents. At University, she began her career as a model with television commercials for Unilever and Tareyton and clients like Chanel. It was during her modeling days, that she met Andrew Stewart, a student of Law at Yale University. They got married in 1961.
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Career
After graduating in history majors from Columbia University, Martha launched a catering business in partnership. Her first book, Entertaining was a huge success which helped her publish subsequent books in art direction, home décor, recipes, and beautiful settings.
Her Polish American upbringing and modeling background helped her gain prestigious clients and novelistic assignments. Coordinating with local farmers, their company gardened, restored, and decorated homes and gardens of celebrities and finally showcased them on television.
Stewart teamed with Time Publishing Ventures in 1990to publish a monthly magazine, Martha Stewart living, as editor–in–chief and featured as a personality within its pages. A show named “Martha Stewart Living” began airing in 1993 and ran till 2004.
Becoming a Billionaire
Martha eventually purchased all of the television, print, and merchandising rights from Times magazine after securing collaboration with Kmart in 1997. These ventures took her closer to her goal of building a multichannel media and marketing firm,” Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSLO)”. The company was listed on New York Stock Exchange in 1999 with Stewart as CEO and Chairman. This was the start of the billionaire journey for Stewart with a net worth of $1.6 billion today.
Trading Scandal
In 2001, Stewart had to step down as CEO of MSLO after she was summoned by the government of security fraud and obstruction of justice. She suffered five months of imprisonment and a fine of $30000.
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Post Imprisonment Projects
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Following her release from jail , she returned to television with “ The Martha Stewart Show” which had successful five seasons. Nominated for Emmy awards, it ran for two more years She returned to daytime television with “The Martha Stewart Show,” which ran from 2005 to 2010 for five seasons.
Personal Life
Stewart has been romantically linked with Sir Anthony Hopkins and billionaire Charles Simonyi. She has a daughter Alexis from her marriage with Andrew Stewart from 1961 to 1990.
