How Martha Stewart Made a Billion Dollars, Lost It, Made It Again, and Still Ended Up Richer Than All of Us
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Martha Stewart is many things: woman who spent her time in prison building a nativity. Best friend of Snoop Dogg. Person who owns several dozen peacocks. Terrible food photographer. Pete Davidson's future girlfriend, if my prayers are answered. And, of course, mega-rich businesswoman.
Between writing multiple best-selling books, publishing a magazine (shoutout to all the '90s kids whose moms read Martha Stewart Living), starring in several TV shows, and having her own range of products including a line of CBD, Martha has a lot of money. In fact, she was the first female self-made billionaire in America. Martha's no longer a billionaire (more on why in a moment), but she's still filthy rich and the time has come to break down her net worth. But before we get into it, take aquick break to watch this:
Martha Became a Billionaire in 1999
Celebrity Net Worth reports that Martha and her business partner Sharon Patrick consolidated all her business ventures into Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSLO) and went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 1999. Thanks to the stock opening at $18 per share and going up to $38 per share by end of trading, Martha pretty much immediately became a billionaire, earning a net worth of ~$1 billion.
"Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia went public in 1999," Martha told People in 2020. "I was the first self-made female billionaire. I had opposition, and that kind of opposition to a woman-built business was really outrageous. 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.' What a piece of garbage that guy is."
And Then She Un-Became a Billionaire
Mostly because MSLO's stock price reportedly went down to $16 a share in 2002, causing Martha to lose her billionaire status. Though according to Forbes, Martha's stock briefly improved when she was incarcerated for insider trading in 2004 (she even became a billionaire again), only to once again fall when she got out. Oh, and reminder than while in prison Martha spent her time making a nativity, which she then sold replicas of for $149.
Anyway, while Martha's not a billionaire anymore, her brand is still extremely profitable. Last year, Forbes reported that Martha Stewart Kitchen (which was acquired by Marquee in 2019) was estimated to bring in as much as $1 billion by 2025. The outlet also noted that Martha's brands reach more than 100 million consumers a month and wrote that they "pull in roughly $900 million in retail sales annually."
Her Real Estate Is a HUGE Chunk of Her Net Worth
Celebrity Net Worth reports that Martha has a casual $100 million tied up in real estate alone—including a giant estate in Maine, not to mention her massive farm in upstate New York. She also owns several homes in New York City and recently sold her Hamptons property for $16.5 million.
Here she is giving everyone a tour of one of the many buildings on her farm, if you're in the mood to live vicariously through her and her peacocks:
So, What Is Martha Stewart's Total Net Worth?
According to Celebrity Net Worth, that'd be $400 million. Not bad! And expect it to shoot right up thanks to a ton of new projects, including the launch of her chic new Las Vegas restaurant, The Bedford (which is modeled on the vibes of her New York home, naturally).
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