The original lifestyle guru started out as a babysitter and model, then a caterer and stockbroker before becoming a cookbook author and launching an empire unrivaled by any other woman in the business. From her recipes to her decor to her friendship with Snoop Doggto, yes, her insider trading scandal, get to know Martha Stewart’s net worth and how she built her unprecedented empire from the ground up.
How much is Martha Stewart’s net worth?
Stewart’s net worth is estimated to be $400 million. To put that in context among other A-list lifestyle gurus, it’s just a fraction of Oprah Winfrey’s net worth , which is rumored to be north of $2.5 billion, but it’s up there with Ellen DeGeneres’ $600 million and more than Rachael Ray’s reported net worth of $100 million.
How did Martha Stewart become famous?
Stewart began hustling when she was just 10 years old: She babysat for the children of New York Yankees Mickey Mantle, Gil McDougald and Yogi Berra, at times also planning birthday parties for the tykes. When she was 15, she appeared in an ad for Lifebuoy, a Unilever soap. Stewart would also go on to model for Chanel, as well as for numerous ads, including for cigarettes. She used her money from modeling to pay for her tuition at Barnard College of Columbia University. After marrying Andrew Stewart, she graduated with degrees in both history and architectural history. “I knew I was good enough to get $60 an hour, which was the going rate at the time,” she said of her modeling career. “I wasn’t the cover girl. I wasn’t Suzy Parker. But I should’ve been. Maybe if I had had somebody encouraging me…But then I got married when I was 19.”
Martha Stewart was a stockbroker and caterer
Stewart became a stockbroker in 1967, following in the footsteps of her father-in-law. She and Andrew moved to Connecticut, where they restored a farmhouse built in the early 1800s, and it was one of the first testaments to Stewart’s skill as a decorator, designer and homemaking maven. Also during this time, Andrew worked in publishing as a CEO for several houses before opening his own. That connection would serve Stewart quite well. While working as a stockbroker, Stewart embarked on a catering service with partner Norma Collier, though the partnership went south relatively fast, and Stewart eventually bought out Collier’s half of the business. Stewart also managed a gourmet food store, but was let go due to allegedly not getting along with the rest of the staff, leading Stewart to open her own shop.
Martha Stewart rose to fame as a cookbook author (with some help from her husband)
Andrew hired Stewart to cater publishing events, which led to her meeting Alan Mirken, who was then the head of Crown Publishing Group. This meeting led to Stewart’s first cookbook, Entertaining, which was penned with a ghostwriter and released in 1982 through Clarkson Potter Books, one of Crown Publishing Group’s imprints. The book’s success led to many more books, including Martha Stewart’s Quick Cook (1983), Martha Stewart’s Hors D’oeuvres (1984), Martha Stewart’s Pies & Tarts (1985), Weddings (1987), The Wedding Planner (1988), Martha Stewart’s Secrets for Entertaining (1988), Martha Stewart’s Quick Cook Menus (1988), and Martha Stewart’s Christmas (1989). Stewart’s relationship with Clarkson Potter continued for more than three decades, and together she and the publishing house have released more than 90 books, most recently with Martha Stewart’s Slow Cooker(2017), Martha Stewart’s Newlywed Kitchen(2017), Martha’s Flowers(2018), Martha Stewart’s Pressure Cooker(2018),The Martha Manual: How to Do (Almost) Everything(2019), Martha Stewart’s Grilling(2019), Martha Stewart’s Cookie Perfection(2019), Martha Stewart’s Organizing(2020) and Martha Stewart’s Cake Perfection(2020). In addition to her cookbooks, Stewart also had columns in newspapers and magazines and was on television numerous times, achieving global notoriety thanks to her appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show and Larry King Live, among others. With her career successes, however, came personal difficulties, and Stewart separated from Andrew in 1987. They divorced in 1990, but she kept his last name, as it was a key component of her brand (and “Martha Kostyra,” her maiden name, simply doesn’t have the same ring to it).
Martha Stewart owned her own magazine, then expanded into a full-blown media empire
Martha Stewart Living, Stewart’s premiere magazine, debuted in 1990 through Time Publishing Ventures. Like almost everything else Stewart touched up to that time, the publication was a soaring success. She parlayed her magazine’s ubiquity into television with her first show, Martha Stewart Living, which began as a weekly half-hour show in 1993 and then expanded to a weekday slot in 1997 and was expanded to a full hour-long slot in 1999. She also appeared in several specials during this period, usually centered around holidays. Martha Stewart Living’s broadcast lasted until 2004. Her entire empire is called Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.
Martha Stewart went to jail for insider trading
You knew this was coming! In 2001, Stewart was accused of selling her shares of ImClone Systems stocks just one day before their value plummeted by 16% (avoiding a loss of over $40,000), allegedly at the advice of her broker, Peter Bacanovic of Merrill Lynch, which would constitute insider trading. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) indicted Stewart for insider trading in 2003, and she resigned from her post on the Board of Directors of the New York Stock Exchange, as well as her role of CEO and Chairwoman of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. In 2004, Stewart was convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of an agency proceeding and making false statements to federal investigators and sentenced to five months in prison, two years of supervised release and a $30,000 fine. She also had to pay a civil penalty of three times the amount she saved by selling her shares of ImClone, amounting to just over $137,000. Stewart maintained her innocence throughout the ordeal. She told Paradeof the experience, “I don’t consider that a mistake. It was a normal thing that people do every day. They sell stock. What was a mistake was the way it was handled. I’m not supposed to say it, but I was not guilty of any crime. I became a target because I was a strong and a rich woman who had been very successful. That’s in the past. It would be very unfair to be defined by that moment.”
Is Martha Stewart a billionaire?
Forbes estimated Stewart’s net worth to be $1 billion in 2000. However, after her insider trading arrest and conviction, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia’s stock plummeted, and her holdings went from a $591 million valuation to $162 million by October 2002. In January 2006, they were valued at $330 million. She’s now valued at about $400 million.
Martha Stewart has had a ton of product lines
Thanks to the popularity of Stewart’s books and TV work, she became a brand. For a decade, she had an exclusive line for Kmart of housewares including dishware, cooking tools and bedding (to name just a few); some products were also available at Sears locations. After her exclusivity deal ended, Home Depot, J.C. Penney and Macy’s began carrying the brand as well. Stewart also has a line of carpet tiles, a craft line at Walmart and an online store on eBay. Stewart told Parade that most of Martha Stewart Omnimedia’s profits come from her branding. “We’re about 50-50 [products and publishing]. Our [profit] margins are much higher in merchandising. We like designing and making products. We’re good at it. We want to have our own stores. That’s how the J.C. Penney thing came around; it was an opportunity to have 700 stores within J.C. Penney. What I want to do now is build freestanding stores.”
Martha Stewart made a major comeback on TV
Stewart wouldn’t let her prison stint define her and launched a comeback for the ages. In addition to her product lines expanding upon her release from prison, Stewart also made a return to TV with The Martha Stewart Show (which was nominated for several Daytime Emmys) and even her own short-lived Apprentice spinoff, The Apprentice: Martha Stewart. She continued publishing bestselling books (including a $2 million deal for The Martha Rules, about business and entrepreneurship). Stewart’s other television projects have included appearances on Chopped and Law & Order: SVU, as well as her shows Martha Stewart Cooking School, Martha Bakes and Martha Knows Best. Her most famous projects these days may be with her pal SnoopDogg, who she first befriended when he appeared on The Martha Stewart Show in 2008. The pair launched a joint (get it?) cooking show, Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party, in 2016 to rave reviews (it was later retitled Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Party Challenge). She also wrote the foreword to his cookbook, From Crook to Cook: Platinum Recipes from Tha Boss Dogg’s Kitchen, and the duo hosted the 2021 Puppy Bowl together, a gig they’re returning to in 2022—while also co-starring in a 2022 Super Bowl commercial for BIC lighters.
Martha Stewart owns a ton of real estate
Stewart’s most famous home is one in which she no longer resides: Her Turkey Hill, Connecticut farmhouse estate, that she restored, renovated and decorated herself. Stewart and her then-husband Andrew purchased the property in 1971 for $46,750. She sold the property, which she had expanded to include all the other lots on her street, in 2007 for $6.7 million. She wrote at the time, “Turkey Hill was a dream place for my family and me for many years. It taught us, it nurtured us, it fed us, and it occupied us in so many wonderful and instructive ways. I would not be who I am today without the vast knowledge I gained there, on that small bit of paradise.” In 1997, Stewart purchased an estate in Seal Harbor, Maine in the $5.4 million range. The property, called Skylands, was originally built for Edsel Ford (son of Henry Ford) boasts antique furnishings, a flower room, 12 bedrooms and even a pink granite driveway. She also owned a Manhattan penthouse on the Hudson River that she put on the market in 2010 for $15.9 million before dropping the price to $13.9 million. Stewart’s main home base is in her hamlet in Katonah, New York. Her 152-acre estate had an asking price of $15.2 million at the time and features several different buildings and a horse farm. She also owns a home in East Hampton, New York’s Lily Pond Lane, and had an apartment in the West Village on Perry Street that she put on the market for $6.65 million in 2004. Stewart was also the owner of a Charles Street six-bedroom apartment in the same neighborhood that she gave to her daughter, Alexis. Next, learn Martha Stewart’s organizing tips to say goodbye to chaos and clutter!
