Martha Helen Stewart (née Kostyra, Polish: [kɔˈstɨra]; born August 3, 1941) is an American retail businesswoman, writer, and television personality.

As the founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, focusing on home and hospitality,[1] she gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing publishing, broadcasting, merchandising and e-commerce.

In 2004, Stewart was convicted of felony charges related to the ImClone stock trading case; she served five months in federal prison for fraud and was released in March 2005.

There was speculation that the incident would effectively end her media empire,[2] but in 2005, Stewart began a comeback campaign,[3] and her company returned to profitability in 2006.

[8] In 2023, at the age of 81, Stewart became the oldest woman to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue magazine.

[18] When Stewart was 10, she worked as the occasional babysitter for the children of Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, and Gil McDougald, all players for the New York Yankees.

The venture quickly became successful but soured when Collier alleged that Stewart was difficult to work with, and was also taking catering jobs on the side.

[37] Andrew had become the president of prominent New York City publisher Harry N. Abrams, Inc.[35][38] In 1977, he was responsible for releasing the English-language edition of The Secret Book of Gnomes series, by Dutch authors Wil Huygen and Rien Poortvliet, which quickly became a blockbuster success and was on The New York Times Best Seller list.

During this time, she also authored dozens of newspaper columns, magazine articles, and other pieces on homemaking, and made numerous television appearances on programs such as The Oprah Winfrey Show and Larry King Live.

[50] On October 19, 1999, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia went public on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol MSO.

[52] According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Stewart avoided a loss of $45,673 by selling all 3,928 shares of her ImClone Systems stock on December 27, 2001, after receiving material, nonpublic information from Peter Bacanovic, her broker at Merrill Lynch.

[53] In the months that followed, Stewart drew heavy media scrutiny, including a Newsweek cover headlined "Martha's Mess".

[54] Notably, on June 25, 2002, CBS anchor Jane Clayson grilled Stewart on the air about ImClone during her regular segment on The Early Show.

"[55] On October 3, 2002, Stewart resigned her position, held for four months, on the board of directors of the New York Stock Exchange, following a deal prosecutors had made with Douglas Faneuil, an assistant to Bacanovic.

Prosecutors showed that Bacanovic had ordered his assistant to tell Stewart that the CEO of ImClone, Samuel D. Waksal, was selling all his shares in advance of an adverse Food and Drug Administration ruling.

[58] After a highly publicized six-week jury trial, Stewart was found guilty in March 2004 of felony charges of conspiracy to obstruct, of obstruction of an agency proceeding, and of making false statements to federal investigators and was sentenced in July 2004 to serve a five-month term in a federal correctional facility and a two-year period of supervised release (including five months of electronic monitoring).

She also agreed to a five-year ban from serving as a director, CEO, CFO, or any other officer role responsible for preparing, auditing, or disclosing financial results of any public company.

[63] In June 2008, the UK Border Agency refused to grant her a visa to enter the United Kingdom because of her criminal conviction for obstructing justice.

[64] Despite Stewart's preference to be incarcerated in Connecticut or Florida, her confinement was set in Federal Prison Camp in Alderson, West Virginia.

[66] However, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice said the BOP would not send her to FCI Danbury, because the news media could too easily access the facility.

[72] After her home confinement ended, but while her supervised release continued, she was required to remain employed and not to associate with people with criminal records.

MSLO launched a line of houses that carry her name to be built by KB Home, initially in Cary, North Carolina, and ultimately in various other locations nationwide.

In addition to television and merchandising, MSLO launched a 24-hour satellite radio channel with Sirius in November 2005, on which Stewart currently hosts a weekly call-in show.

[citation needed] Stewart also made a special appearance on the comedy-drama 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.

Martha Stewart also signed a contract with Costco to offer frozen and fresh food under the Kirkland Signature label.

In a move from broadcast television to cable, on January 26, 2010, Hallmark Channel and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia announced a multi-year strategic partnership.

[83] Stewart made another foray into acting with a debut on the NBC legal drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

[102] In September 2022, Oregon-based CBD producer Wyld filed a lawsuit against the company for copyright infringement relating to the packaging of the line of products.

[110][111] Stewart dated billionaire Charles Simonyi, who was an early employee of Microsoft and head of their software group, on and off for 15 years.

[125] She also made a cameo appearance in the fourth season of HBO's High Maintenance,[126] as well as the 2016 comedy film Bad Moms.