Martha Helen Stewart (née Kostyra; August 3, 1941) is an American business magnate, television host, author and magazine publisher. As founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she has gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing publishing, broadcasting, and merchandising. Stewart's syndicated talk show, Martha, is broadcast throughout the world, she has written numerous bestselling books, and she is the publisher of the Martha Stewart Living magazine.

In 2001, Stewart was named the third most powerful woman in America by Ladies Home Journal. In 2004, she was convicted of lying to investigators about a stock sale and served five months in prison. Stewart began a strong comeback campaign in 2005, with her company returning to profitability in 2006.

Biography

Martha Stewart was born in Jersey City, New Jersey to middle-class Polish-American parents Edward "Eddie" Kostyra (c. 1912 – 1979) and Martha Ruszkowski Kostyra (b. Buffalo, New York, September 16, 1914 – d. Norwalk, Connecticut, November 16, 2007). She lived in Jersey City until the age of 3, when her family moved to Nutley, New Jersey. She was raised in Nutley along with her five siblings. Stewart graduated from Nutley High School in her hometown.

Her family instilled in her a strong passion for activities in the home. Stewart's mother taught her how to cook and sew. Later, she learned the processes of canning and preserving when she visited her grandparents' home in Buffalo, New York. Her father had a passion for gardening, and passed on much of his knowledge and expertise to his daughter.

Stewart was also active in many extracurricular activities, such as the school newspaper and the Art Club. During this time, Stewart began a modeling career. She was hired and appeared in several television commercials and magazines, including one of Tareyton's famous "Rather fight than switch" cigarette advertisements. Finishing with straight As, she was awarded a partial scholarship to Barnard College in New York City.

Initially she intended to major in chemistry, but switched to art and European history, and later architectural history. It was around this time that she met and later married her husband, Andrew "Andy" Stewart, on July 1, 1961. After marrying Andrew Stewart, Martha left Barnard for one year, and continued her moderately-successful modeling career, while her husband finished his law degree at Yale Law School. She returned to Barnard a year later, to graduate with a double major in History and Architectural History. In 1965 her only child, daughter Alexis Stewart was born.

At this time, Stewart began to hone and develop her business skills. In 1967, she became a stockbroker. She was very successful until she left the profession in 1973, in order to focus more time on her daughter, and to restore her new home in Connecticut. It has been suggested that a scandal involving Levitz Furniture may have contributed to her decision to leave the firm of Monness, Horstman, Williams, and Sidel. . Several Principals at the firm allegedly received kick-backs from Levitz for selling stock in the financially-troubled company.Fact: date=March 2008 Stewart and her husband decided to move to Westport, Connecticut. They purchased and undertook a massive restoration of the 1805 farmhouse on Turkey Hill Road that would later become the model for the set of the Martha Stewart Living television program. Stewart and her husband undertook the entire venture by themselves. During the project, Stewart's panache for restoring and decorating became apparent.