Martha Stewart Is Not Quite The Homemaking Maven We Think She Is…

She Became Wealthy Enough To Buy It All Back

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By 1997, Martha Stewart earned enough from her deal with Kmart to buy the Martha Stewart Living brand, including the show and magazine, back from Time Warner for an estimated $75 million. Now the sole owner of her own brand, Stewart’s next step was to consolidate her products into one company. She founded Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia that same year, while also launching her own website. In 1999, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSO) went public on the New York Stock Exchange. At first, the public offering was set at $18 per share but quickly shot up to $38 by the end of trading, and Stewart became the first female self-made billionaire on paper.