Martha Stewart Biography: Entrepreneur

Martha Stewart Biography

Entrepreneur, Media personality & Lifestyle Guide

Without an open-minded mind, you can never be a great success.

Martha Helen Stewart (née Kostyra) (born August 3, 1941) is a popular Polish-American television and magazine personality known for her cooking, gardening, etiquette, and arts and crafts projects, and as a general lifestyle guide and homemaker.

She is also a sucessful businesswoman and an American icon. Starting in 2002 her career was rocked by a scandal involving her sale of shares in a drug company just days before its application for a new drug was denied. She was eventually convicted of lying to investigators and sentenced to prison in 2004. She was released on March 4, 2005.

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Martha Helen Stewart
Early life
Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, to Polish-American parents, she grew up in Nutley, New Jersey, with four brothers and sisters.

A good student, she received a partial scholarship to Barnard College in New York City, where she worked part-time as a model to help pay her expenses. She initially intended to major in chemistry but switched to European history, and architectural history. After graduation, she pursued her budding modeling career and starred in several television commercials. She stopped modelling in 1965 when she gave birth to daughter Alexis, with then-husband Andrew Stewart, a law student she met in college.

After modelling, she began pursuing her second career as a stock broker. She continued in this profession until 1973 when recession hit Wall Street. She and her husband then moved to Westport, Connecticut, and began restoration of an 1805 farmhouse which is occasionally seen in her television programs and where she still lives today.

In later years, she began a successful catering business out of her home and began writing columns and articles on topics such as cooking, gardening, and home furnishing.

During the 1980s, she was a contributing editor to Family Circle magazine and became a spokesperson for Kmart in 1987. In 1990, she started her own magazine, Martha Stewart Living. That same year, her husband filed for divorce on the same day that her book on weddings was released.

Rise to fame
In 1993, she began hosting a half-hour syndicated television show by the same name, Martha Stewart Living. She soon introduced her own line of home products under the name "The Martha Stewart Everyday Collection."

Stewart rose to national prominence with regular appearances on NBC's The Today Show. She guest-starred as herself on the NBC sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun in 1996. By 1997, she had launched her first of nine exclusive product lines. She also hosted a cooking show on the Food Network called From Martha's Kitchen and a gardening show on Home and Garden TV called From Martha's Garden. She also founded a website to promote her products.

In 1999, she founded the company Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia traded on the New York Stock Exchange to combine and control all her enterprises under one corporate entity. The company hit it big and Martha became a billionaire overnight. She became its chief executive officer and chairman until 2003. Stewart owns approximately 61% of the equity of the company and 94% of the voting power.

ImClone scandal
Federal indictments and trial
In 2002, Stewart was under investigation for alleged insider trading for selling 3,928 shares of ImClone Systems on December 27, 2001 -- an allegation that has never been substantiated nor prosecuted in a court of law.

On December 28, the Food and Drug Administration announced it would not review ImClone's application for Erbitux, which the company touted as a promising cancer drug. ImClone's stock plunged over 70% in the month after the news came out.

Stewart was a friend of ImClone founder Samuel Waksal (Waksal dated Stewart after first dating her daughter, Alexis), who has since pleaded guilty to six counts of wrongdoing related to insider trading before the announcement.

On June 6, 2002, the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, which was already investigating dubious ImClone trading, announced that it was probing Stewart's stock sale.

On June 25, 2002, she famously appeared on CBS' The Early Show; when asked by Jane Clayson about the ImClone scandal during a cooking segment, she replied, "I just want to focus on my salad."

On October 3, 2002, Stewart resigned from the board of directors of the New York Stock Exchange. Through all the investigation and allegation, Stewart kept her public persona intact, focusing on her homemaking specialties and downplaying or ignoring the increasing clamor for answers about her role in the scandal.

On June 4, 2003, a federal grand jury in Manhattan indicted Stewart and her former broker Peter Bacanovic on nine criminal counts from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). By selling when she did, the government alleged Stewart avoided losses of $45,673. The charges included securities fraud, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy. Stewart was not indicted on the original charge of insider trading, but only for the coverup that ensued. Stewart maintained her innocence, pleading not guilty, saying she had a standing order with Bacanovic to sell her shares if ImClone stock fell below $60. Stewart resigned as CEO and chairman of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia on the same day she was indicted, but remained on the company's board.

The day after her indictment, Stewart took out a full-page advertisement in USA Today and launched a website with an open letter of defense "to my friends and loyal supporters." She said, "I want you to know that I am innocent — and that I will fight to clear my name... The government's attempt to criminalize these actions makes no sense to me... I am confident I will be exonerated of these baseless charges."

The SEC later filed a related civil suit against Stewart with charges of insider trading. Stewart's trial was initially set for January 12, 2004, at the request of her lawyers who said they needed plenty of time to analyze the evidence. The trial eventually began on January 20 In New York City presided over by U.S. District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum. During the trial, Stewart maintained her innocence.

On February 27, 2004, Judge Cederbaum threw out the charge of securities fraud against Stewart. This was the most serious charge; it could have led to up to 10 years in prison with a million dollar fine. The judge called the charge "unfounded" and said that "no jury could feasibly find it to be accurate."

On March 5, 2004, Stewart was found guilty by a jury of eight women and four men on all four remaining counts against her: conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and two counts of making false statements. The maximum sentence for these convictions combined is 20 years in prison. The jury deliberated for three days following the five-week trial before reaching its verdict. Sentencing was set for June 17.

Following Stewart's conviction, a message was posted on her website, reading, in part, "I am obviously distressed by the jury's verdict but I continue to take comfort in knowing that I have the confidence and enduring support of my family and friends. I will appeal the verdict and continue to fight to clear my name. I believe in the fairness of the judicial system and remain confident that I will ultimately prevail."

Fallout after conviction
On March 8, 2004, Viacom pulled Martha Stewart Living from its CBS and UPN affiliates, after having moved the show during Stewart's trial from prime daytime timeslots into less desirable early-morning slots (e.g., 2:05am in New York). On March 15, Martha Stewart resigned from the board of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia as a result of the conviction. On May 18, MSO announced that the television show that had started the company, Martha Stewart Living, was going on hiatus, with no announced date of return.

In an unrelated matter, Stewart faced more legal trouble in February 2004 as her company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, was sued by Kmart for allegedly "double-counting" royalty payments and advertising spending. The companies signed a seven-year deal in 2001 to market Martha Stewart Everyday brand home decorating, garden products, and housewares through Kmart stores. Kmart filed for bankruptcy protection seven months later and has since closed 600 of its 2,100 stores. On April 26, 2004, Kmart withdrew its lawsuit, having reached an agreement with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia to amend the terms of the June 2001 contract and to extend it through 2009.

On May 21, 2004, Larry Stewart (no relation), a United States Secret Service (USSS) lab director who testified for the government against Martha Stewart, was charged with two counts of perjury. Stock in Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia jumped as much as 23% on the news. Larry Stewart was an expert witness about the ink on a broker's worksheet, testifying that the note about selling Imclone shares when it dropped below $60 was different from the rest of the ink on the document. The charges arose when Susan Fortunato, a USSS coworker, complained that she had in fact done the analysis and that it had never been examined by Stewart. Although the jury at the perjury trial felt that Larry Stewart had taken unfair credit for the work done, it did not amount to perjury and he was found not guilty on October 5, 2004. The jury had trouble believing Fortunato, feeling that she had an axe to grind with her co-worker, Stewart.

Sentencing
On July 8, a motion for a new trial was denied, and sentencing was set for July 16. Martha Stewart and Peter Bacanovic were each sentenced to five months in prison, five months of home confinement, and two years probation, for lying about a stock sale, conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Stewart was ordered to pay a $30,000 fine, while Bacanovic was fined $4,000. The judge stayed the sentence while they prepared their appeals.

On September 15, 2004, accompanied by her lawyers and members of the board of directors of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Martha Stewart held a press conference to announce her decision to begin serving her sentence as soon as possible while vowing to continue ahead with her appeal. On September 21, she was ordered by US District Judge Miriam Cedarbaum to surrender by October 8 to begin her sentence. On September 29, the Federal Bureau of Prisons announced that Stewart would serve her sentence at the federal prison camp in Alderson, West Virginia, denying her request to serve her sentence at the federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut. She reported to Alderson Federal Prison Camp early in the morning on October 8. Alderson is a minimum security prison, the lowest level of security in the Bureau of Prisons. There are no fences, and inmates are generally free to walk around the compound unescorted. Stewart, who said her prison nickname was "M. Diddy", reportedly got along quite well with her fellow inmates and kept herself busy with assigned cleaning tasks. She was released on March 4, 2005 at 12:30 AM.

Release and comeback

After being released from Alderson, Martha flew by jet to her estate in Bedford, New York where she will be under house arrest until August 31, 2005. She will be able to leave her property for up to 48 hours a week to conduct business, but will need to wear an ankle bracelet so she can be monitored. Her period of home confinement was recently extended by an additional three weeks.

Many people are predicting a comeback for Ms. Stewart while others believe that she will have difficulty trying to reclaim her former status as a media mogul. Now, she is once again involved in her Martha Stewart Living magazine. Offerings of her products at Kmart have been expanded and it is likely that Stewart's merchandise will also be available at Sears stores following that company's merger with Kmart. However, the most heavily promoted aspect of her attempt at a comeback is television. Martha will once again host her daytime show and will appear in a new version of The Apprentice (called The Apprentice: Martha Stewart) in the autumn of 2005. Both shows will be produced by famed producer Mark Burnett. Stewart also has reportedly been writing a book.

Current projects
Following her release from prison March 2005, Stewart launched a highly publicized comeback, and was once again involved in Martha Stewart Living. Offerings of her company's Martha Stewart Everyday line at Kmart were expanded to include a new line of ready-made home furnishings, and its mass market interior paint line became available at larger Sears stores. However, the most heavily promoted aspect of her attempted comeback is television. Stewart returned to daytime television with Martha and appeared in an adapted version of The Apprentice (called The Apprentice: Martha Stewart). Both shows premiered in September 2005, and both were produced by Mark Burnett. The Martha Stewart show is currently in its second season.

Her prime time Apprentice spin-off received poor ratings, which some attribute to popular dislike for the opportunistic tone of the network's massive promotional campaign and to NBC's slotting the show up against the hit drama Lost. The Apprentice: Martha Stewart was not renewed for a second season.

In October 2005, Stewart also released a new book called The Martha Rules on starting and managing a new business, and a month later her company released Martha Stewart Baking Handbook. In October 2006, Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook, a reference book about looking after your house, was published by Clarkson Potter. She also is a regular contributor of cooking, gardening, and crafts segments on NBC's The Today Show. Stewart's daily talk show was nominated in six categories for the 33rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards in 2006, including Best Host and Best Show.

In October 2005, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia launched a line of houses that carry her name to be built by KB Home initially in Cary, North Carolina and various other locations nationwide. The first homes, which were inspired by Stewart's homes in New York and Mount Desert Island in Maine, were completed in early 2006. Ultimately 650 homes are planned with prices from low $200,000 to mid-$400,000s. Stewart's company is currently developing an upscale line of homewares for Federated Department Stores, owner of Macy's. A line of paper-based crafts for EK Success is also in development.

In addition to television and merchandising, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia launched a 24-hour satellite radio network with Sirius in November 2005, on which Stewart currently hosts a weekly call-in show. Stewart has also encouraged the use of Wikipedia on her program during a segment on pomegranates in order for viewers to learn more about that fruit's symbolism in Jewish tradition.

Stewart also made a special appearance on the dramedy series Ugly Betty in the November 16, 2006 episode "Four Thanksgivings and a Funeral", in which she gave her friend Wilhelmina Slater (played by Vanessa Williams) tips on how to prepare a turkey. Interestingly, another character on the series, Justin Suarez (played by Mark Indelicato), is a fan of Stewart.

Source: Updated 3/22/2007 http://www.wikipedia.org/

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