Background

Ethnicity: Both Martha Stewart's parents were of Polish descent. All four of her grandparents were immigrants from Poland.

Martha Stewart was born on August 3, 1941, in Jersey City, New Jersey, the United States, to Edward Kostyra and Martha Ruszkowski-Kostyra. By the time she turned three, her family had relocated to Nutley, New Jersey, where she grew up with four brothers and sisters.

By all accounts, Stewart's father was a strict disciplinarian who instilled in Stewart the value of self-sufficiency as well as a domineering perfectionism. Because of the family's modest means, Stewart and her siblings were required to perform various household chores, through which Stewart became adept at cooking, sewing, and gardening. Though acquiring these skills out of necessity, Stewart later embraced her former chores as hobbies and made a living by showing others how to parlay domestic know-how into evidence of refinement and the good life.

Edward Kostyra taught his daughter gardening when she was only three; her mother taught her cooking and sewing; her grandparents taught her to put up preserves, and she learned to make pies and cakes from a pair of retired bakers who lived next door.

Education

Martha Stewart worked as a model from the age of 13, appearing in fashion shows as well as television and print advertisements. By all accounts, she was a hard-working, serious child. While in high school, Stewart began modeling for upscale department stores in New York City and subsequently appeared in several television commercials and fashion magazines. Intelligent as well as photogenic - traits that would propel her career as a media star - Stewart was offered a full scholarship to New York University but declined in order to attend Barnard College, where she studied art history while supporting herself through modeling.

A straight-A student, she graduated from Nutley High School with a partial scholarship to Barnard College in New York City and worked as a model to help pay expenses. Just after her sophomore year, she married Andrew Stewart, a law student. She took a year off from Barnard after their 1961 wedding but returned to graduate with a double major in history and architectural history. She earned a degree in European and architectural history in 1963.

Career

After graduation, Martha Stewart continued a successful modeling career, appearing in print and television advertisements for Breck, Clairol, Lifebuoy soap, and Tareyton cigarettes until her daughter, Alexis, was born in 1965. With the birth of her daughter, Stewart ceased modeling and decided to pursue an interest in Wall Street trading.

Despite her lack of formal training, she landed a position as a stockbroker with Monness, Williams, and Sidel - a small firm at which she excelled and was energized by the sales environment and six-figure salary. Stewart's intuitive business sense and ambition were immediately apparent. However, an economic downturn in 1973 convinced Stewart to abandon high finance, leaving her temporarily unattached as she contemplated alternate career paths.

She and her husband moved to Westport, Connecticut, where they undertook the complete renovation of an 1805 farmhouse on Turkey Hill Road, a location familiar to viewers of her later television programs. Stewart decided to focus her energy on gourmet cooking, having trained herself by reading Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. In 1976, she started a catering business, which she ran from the basement of her house.

She gained additional business experience managing a gourmet food store in Westport, the Market Basket, which she guided to success. Her catering business also prospered. Within a decade, Martha Stewart, Inc., had grown into a $1 million business serving a number of corporate and celebrity clients. Stewart expanded into the world of publishing with her first book, Entertaining (1982; with Elizabeth Hawes), it set the tone for subsequent publications: superb art direction, gorgeous settings, labor-intensive recipes, and decorating projects.

The book became a bestseller and was followed in quick succession by such publications as Martha Stewart's Quick Cook Menus, Martha Stewart's Hors d'Oeuvres, Martha Stewart's Christmas and Martha Stewart's Wedding Planner. In addition, she oversaw the CBS Masterworks Dinner Classics, a series of music compilations that could provide the appropriate background music for a picnic, cocktail party, Sunday brunch, or exotic meal. Following continued success with such books as Martha Stewart’s Hors d’Oeuvres (1984) and Weddings (1987), Time Publishing Ventures, Inc., teamed with Stewart (1990) to publish a monthly magazine, Martha Stewart Living, with Stewart not only as editor in chief but as the featured personality within its pages.

Stewart's lifestyle empire soon grew to include two magazines, a checkout-size recipe publication, a popular cable television show, a syndicated newspaper column, a series of how-to books, a radio show, an Internet site, and $763 million in annual retail sales. On October 19, 1999, America's most famous homemaker returned to Wall Street to see her company through its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. At the end of the day, the price of each of 72 million shares in Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. had jumped more than 95 percent and raised almost $130 million. Stewart herself controls 96 percent of the voting shares in her company and is worth $1.2 billion.

In 2001, Ladies Home Journal named her the third most powerful woman in America. By 2002, the magazine Martha Stewart Living was selling more than two million copies per issue, and her syndicated television program was seen by millions around the world. In June of that year, she accepted an invitation to join the board of directors of the New York Stock Exchange, but resigned her seat only four months later, when the United States Securities and Exchange Commission accused her of violating insider trading rules. The charges led to a lengthy investigation by the Justice Department. Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia’s share price fell, Stewart’s television program was canceled, and as the company’s losses mounted, many doubted it could ever recover.

In June 2003, a 41-page indictment charged Stewart with securities fraud, obstruction of justice, conspiracy and making false statements to prosecutors and the FBI. She pleaded innocent to all charges and stepped down as chair and CEO of her Omnimedia empire. In February 2004, a judge dismissed the securities fraud charge, but a jury found her guilty of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and two counts of making false statements. Stewart was sentenced to five months in prison and fined $30,000 that July. She served the first part of her sentence at a minimum-security prison in Alderson, West Virginia, in October 2004.

After being convicted in 2004, she retained only an editorial role with the company. Stewart served five months in prison followed by five months of home detention, during which she urged her fans to continue supporting her business. NBC announced she would host two new shows: a daytime talk and how-to show and a spin-off of the reality show The Apprentice produced by Mark Burnett and Donald Trump.

While Stewart's version of The Apprentice failed to attract enough viewers, her self-titled syndicated daytime program has been on the air since 2005. The company she established, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, continued to grow in new directions. The business added several non-Stewart publications, including Everyday Food and Body + Soul. Stewart continues to be a television presence, appearing as a judge on Chopped, Bakeaway Camp, and more.

She returned to daytime television with Martha (2005-2012), and in 2010 she was appointed chief editorial, media, and content officer of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. The following year, upon the expiration of a ban imposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission as part of a 2006 settlement, she rejoined the company’s board, and in 2012 she resumed her duties as chairman. Three years later it was announced that Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia was being acquired by Sequential Brands for some $350 million; at one time the company had been valued at about $2 billion.

In 2013, Stewart found herself inside a courtroom once again. Her company was engaged in a lawsuit with the department store chain Macy's over a contract dispute. Macy's sued Stewart and its retail rival J.C. Penney over Stewart's plan to open Martha Stewart brand boutiques inside Penney's stores. The case was eventually settled.

Martha's dream of having her own café finally became a reality in 2015 when she opened up the Martha Stewart Café in New York City. The coffee shop sells Martha's favorite hot drinks, pastries, and more. Since 2018, Martha's been a recurring judge on the Food Network show Chopped. Her extensive knowledge of food and recipes has made her a fan favorite! She's also served as a judge on Masterchef Junior.

In February 2019, Martha announced a partnership with Canopy Growth, one of the largest marijuana producers in North America. In the advisory role, Martha plans to help the company develop a new line of hemp-based, cannabidiol-infused products aimed at improving the holistic health of pets.

Achievements

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  Martha Stewart transformed a home-based catering business into a multibillion-dollar media franchise centered upon her image as a consummate hostess, food expert, and do-it-yourself decorator. A trusted tastemaker and icon of American domesticity, Stewart skillfully cultivated one of the most recognizable and powerful brands through her award-winning television program, best-selling magazine, and more than 20books on cooking, gardening, and home decor. In 1997 she founded Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, an umbrella company for her diverse publishing, television, online, and merchandising ventures. Stewart's credibility was tarnished in 2002 when she was indicted and subsequently convicted, on four counts of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and making false statements to government investigators, bringing the future of her company into question.
  
  As she built her business, Stewart’s perfectionism, comprehensive knowledge, and bottomless capacity for work were not universally admired. She was censured for setting an impossible model for harried working mothers, and her glorification of a home-centered existence seemed to some a step backward for women. But her fans were legion, and many criticisms were swept away by the personal appeal that made her company a commercial success.
  
  Martha Stewart is America's first self-made female billionaire. She was named one of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in the World in 1996. Also in 1996, TIME magazine listed Martha Stewart as one of America's Top 25 Most Influential People. Martha Stewart was inducted into the 2011 New Jersey Hall of Fame for her services and contributions to Enterprise. She was inducted on October 27, 2019, in Asbury Park, New Jersey.
  
  She is the recipient of the prestigious Daytime Emmy which she won under the Outstanding Service Show Host category for Martha Stewart Living. She won the award in 1995, 1997, 2002, and 2003. She also won the same award for her show Martha in 2011.

Works

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• book

  • Everyday Food: Light: The Quickest and Easiest Recipes, All Under 500 Calories: A Cookbook

    (Tips throughout explain what makes these recipes light, w...)

    2011
  • Martha Stewart's Organizing: The Manual for Bringing Order to Your Life, Home & Routines

    (The ultimate guide to getting your life in order - with h...)

    2020
  • Martha's Flowers: A Practical Guide to Growing, Gathering, and Enjoying

    (The essential resource from Martha Stewart, with expert a...)

  • The Martha Manual: How to Do (Almost) Everything

    (Essential life skills from America's most trusted lifesty...)

    2019
  • Martha Stewart's Cooking School: Lessons and Recipes for the Home Cook: A Cookbook

    (Imagine having Martha Stewart at your side in the kitchen...)

    1999
  • Martha's American Food: A Celebration of Our Nation's Most Treasured Dishes, from Coast to Coast : A Cookbook

    (Martha Stewart, who has so significantly influenced the A...)

    2012
  • Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook

    (Every new book from Martha Stewart is cause for celebrati...)

    2005
  • Living the Good Long Life: A Practical Guide to Caring for Yourself and Others

    (Martha Stewart’s engaging handbook for living your health...)

    2013
  • Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts

    (Whether you just bought your first sewing machine or have...)

    2012
  • Martha Stewart's New Pies and Tarts: 150 Recipes for Old-Fashioned and Modern Favorites: A Baking Book

    (The perfect sweet (or savory) for any occasion   Filled w...)

    2011
  • The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook: The Original Classics

    (There are certain tools no home cook should be without a ...)

    2000
  • Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts

    (For nearly 20 years, home crafters have turned to the pag...)

    2009
  • Martha Stewart's Favorite Crafts for Kids: 175 Projects for Kids of All Ages to Create, Build, Design, Explore, and Share

    (Martha Stewart's Favorite Crafts for Kids focuses on craf...)

    2013
  • Martha Stewart's Cookies: The Very Best Treats to Bake and to Share: A Baking Book

    (175 cookie recipes and variations that showcase all kinds...)

    2007
  • Martha Stewart's Appetizers: 200 Recipes for Dips, Spreads, Snacks, Small Plates, and Other Delicious Hors d' Oeuvres, Plus 30 Cocktails: A Cookbook

    (With more than 200 recipes, successfully cook snacks, sta...)

    2015
  • Mixtape Potluck Cookbook: A Dinner Party for Friends, Their Recipes, and the Songs They Inspire

    (Questlove is best known for his achievements in the music...)

    2019
  • Everyday Food: Great Food Fast: 250 Recipes for Easy, Delicious Meals All Year Long: A Cookbook

    (No matter how busy you are, at the end of the day, you wa...)

    2011
  • The Martha Rules: 10 Essentials for Achieving Success as You Start, Build, or Manage a Business

    (Martha Stewart is an undeniable force in the business wor...)

    2005
  • Martha Stewart's Cupcakes: 175 Inspired Ideas for Everyone's Favorite Treat: A Baking Book

    (The perfect cupcake for every occasion. Swirled and sprin...)

    2009

• monument

  • Men In Black II

    (Agent K has retired, and Agent J is still keeping Earth s...)

    2002

• movie

  • Bad Moms

    (A trio of stressed-out moms join forces to rebel against ...)

    2016
  • Pixels

    (An unlikely group of former '80s video game champions ste...)

    2015
  • The Great Buck Howard

    (Buck Howard once spent his days in the limelight. But now...)

    2008

Religion

Stewart was raised in a strict Polish Catholic family, but now it's not clear if she is still religious.

Politics

Stewart is a registered Democrat with some liberal leanings. Stewart’s financial contributions to political candidates are a total of $183,224. Stewart went on to endorse Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.

Views

Stewart considers philanthropy personal responsibility. "Giving back is just part of a good life, and it makes me feel good," she says. In 2006, Martha Stewart donated $5 million to New York's Mt. Sinai Hospital for a center on healthy aging. The center fills a need for quality senior health. She dedicated the center to her mother, Martha Kostyra, who died in 2007 at age 93. Today, the center gets more than 10,000 annual patient visits, making it one of the largest outpatient facilities in the country for older adults.

Quotations: "So the pie isn't perfect? Cut it into wedges. Stay in control, and never panic."

"I have set a standard, and I’m going to stick to the standard. I may have been able to grow faster and maybe my business could have been bigger, but because I really feel very serious about my subject, I really want to be hands-on."

Personality

Martha Stewart is known for being a relentless workaholic, only sleeping four hours each night. As a child, Martha would go to her local library and try to read every book on each shelf. She is a big animal lover, owning several dogs, cats, birds, chickens, turkeys, donkeys, and horses.

Interests

• Politicians

  Hillary Clinton

• Writers

  To The White Sea by James Dickey, Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

• Sport & Clubs

  Beach tennis

• Music & Bands

  Eminem, Snoop Dog

Connections

During her years at Barnard College in New York City, Martha met her husband, Yale law student Andy Stewart. The two married in 1961 and had a daughter, Alexis, or Lexi, a few years later. The couple separated in 1987 and divorced three years later.

Father:

Edward Rudolph Kostyra

Mother:

Martha Ruszkowski Kostyra

Growing up in Nutley, New Jersey, Martha was close with her mother, who was often called Big Martha. Both of Martha's parents were do-it-yourselfers from whom she learned countless lessons, but she calls her mother, who taught her many of her classic recipes, her greatest teacher.

ex-boyfriend:

Anthony Hopkins

Martha Stewart had dated Sir Anthony Hopkins. However, when he came out in The Silence of the Lambs, Stewart refused to pursue the relationship further. During an appearance on Howard Stern’s radio show, she remarked, "Oh, I loved him (Hopkins), but he was… scary. I was going to invite him up to Maine; I have this beautiful home in Maine… but then I reconsidered because I saw that movie again." She later added, "I would have probably had a very nice relationship with Anthony Hopkins, but I couldn’t get past the Lecter thing."

Ex-husband:

Andrew Stewart

The couple reportedly had problems from the beginning. According to author Jerry Oppenheimer who penned the book about Martha's life called "Just Desserts," when the couple got engaged, Martha didn't like the ring Andy gave her.

She reportedly demanded he get her a bigger one and he complied. Then on their wedding day, she apparently made him wait at the altar at St. Paul's Chapel at Columbia University in New York.

After years of fighting, the couple separated in 1987 and divorced several years later. Friends of Martha revealed that she was devastated about the split.

ex-boyfriend:

Charles Simonyi

Simonyi and Martha dated on and off for 15 years but broke up around February 2008.

Daughter:

Alexis Gilbert "Lexie" Stewart

Alexis is the only child of Martha and her ex-husband, Andrew Stewart. She was estranged from her mother for a long time but did dedicate her memoir Whateverland: Learning to Live Here to Martha.

Rumor has it the two women reconciled while Martha was serving time in prison and their relationship is much stronger now than it was years ago.

Friend:

Snoop Dogg

Martha and her friend Snoop Dogg started their own cooking show, Martha & Snoop's Potluck Dinner Party, in 2016, where they cook delicious recipes, chat with friends, and have a whole lot of fun.

Friend:

Mark Burnett

References

• Martha Stewart Official Site
• Martha Stewart on Twitter
• Martha Stewart on Instagram