Martha Stewart is one of the most famous businesswomen in the U.S., and her wealth shows it.
She built her brand through her cooking shows, home products, and media work. In 1976, Stewart started her own catering business. Within six years, she connected with Alan Mirken, the head of Crown Publishing Group. He was impressed with her cooking skills and asked her to write a cookbook.
Her book Entertaining became a huge hit and helped launch her career as the perfect homemaker. She taught her fans not just how to cook, but how to throw parties and entertain. She released a new cookbook almost every year and expanded her media work in the 1990s.
In 1997, Stewart brought together her magazine, TV show, and product lines into a company called Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Since then, she has published more than 70 books.
In 1999, she took her company public, making her the first woman in the U.S. to become a self-made billionaire. After being convicted in 2004 for conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and making false statements to federal investigators, her company’s stock rose by 90%, making her a billionaire again, according to Forbes.
Stewart lost her place on the billionaire list in 2001. The last time Forbes reported her net worth was around $220 million in 2015.
“I had opposition, and that kind of opposition to a woman-built business was really outrageous,” Stewart said in a November 2020 interview with PEOPLE. “Even my own lawyers were negative about the possibility of success. I remember one lawyer sending me an orchid, saying, ‘Oh, you did it. Wow. What a surprise.'”
Here’s how Martha Stewart built her wealth, from her lifestyle magazine to her cooking shows.
What is Martha Stewart’s net worth?
Forbes first named Stewart a billionaire in 2000. The last time Forbes reported her net worth, it was $220 million in 2015, just $30 million less than the magazine’s first list of America’s wealthiest self-made women.
Stewart’s business skills began when she worked as a stockbroker in the 1970s. Later, she started her own catering company.
“I had a very successful career in the stock market, and I sometimes regret not staying in that business, because becoming an investment banker would’ve been pretty fabulous,” she said in a November 2020 interview with PEOPLE. “But I was lured to the home.”
Martha Stewart’s Net Worth: How much has Martha Stewart donated to charity?Her career in “the home” took off, as she wrote at least nine cookbooks in the 1980s alone, all of which were successful. She has written dozens more since. By 1990, she became the editor-in-chief of her magazine, Martha Stewart Living, and launched a half-hour TV show with the same name in 1993.
In 1997, Stewart combined all her businesses under Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and took the company public in 1999. The price of the company’s stock soared, making Stewart a billionaire.
By 2002, the stock price had dropped a lot, which reduced Stewart’s net worth.
What happened to Martha Stewart’s net worth when she went to jail?
In 2001, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Stewart was accused of avoiding a loss of $45,673 after selling her shares of ImClone Systems. She sold them based on advice from her broker at Merrill Lynch, who was said to have given her nonpublic information. The next day, the stock price dropped by 16%.
Martha Stewart’s Net Worth: How much has Martha Stewart donated to charity?After the incident, Stewart faced heavy media criticism, and in 2003, she was charged with nine counts, including obstruction of justice. In 2004, she was found guilty of felony charges and was sentenced to five months in prison, along with two years of supervised release.
Although Stewart stepped down from her position as CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia after the indictment, Forbes reported that her company’s shares grew by 90%, making her a billionaire again, after she had dropped off the list in 2001.
How has Martha Stewart built her brand since her release from jail?
After being released from prison in March 2005, Stewart made a big comeback. She returned to national television with Martha Stewart Living and later started The Martha Stewart Show.
She also grew her partnerships with other brands, including ready-made home products at Kmart, a 2,000-piece homeware line with Macy’s, and a radio show on Sirius.
Stewart has worked with rapper Snoop Dogg, including their 2016 show Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party. Now, Stewart has a CBD line and launched her first original podcast, The Martha Stewart Podcast, in June 2022, with Snoop as her first guest.
“Look what I’ve done since I was 50. I started my big business when I was 50,” Stewart told PEOPLE in April 2024. “Thirty years later, I am still creating businesses, selling amazing products and writing my 100th book.”
Martha Stewart’s Net Worth: How much has Martha Stewart donated to charity?How much has Martha Stewart donated to charity?
Stewart has made many charitable donations throughout her career, but one of her most significant contributions was in 2006, when she gave $5 million to establish The Martha Stewart Center for Living at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. The center aims to improve healthcare for older people in the U.S.
“I see people in their 90’s that are smiling and happy that they finally have a place to go where someone cares for them,” Stewart told Forbes about the center’s success in 2012. “It is very important to me that people feel cared for, feel nurtured.”
What has Martha Stewart said about her worth?
Martha Stewart has spoken openly about the hard work it took to build her business and how she continues to manage her wealth now that she’s in her 80s.
“I built a company, I feel very responsible for my company, a company which I still have a very vast ownership in,” Stewart told Life Stories about her success in July 2023. “I want that company to be very successful, to grow very big, to leave a legacy of what that company stands for.”
Beyond her own achievements, Stewart has mentioned that she wants to be an inspiration for other women and help more female entrepreneurs succeed.
“I think I helped so many other women believe in their own ideas and their own business plans and their own paths to glory,” she told PEOPLE in November 2020. “Many other women have built amazing companies and done very well. I think I had a good part in that, without being an overt feminist.”