Martha Stewart was born on August 3, 1941, in Jersey City, New Jersey, to a Polish American family where cooking, gardening, sewing, and homemaking were daily practices. She paid her college tuition by modeling for brands like Chanel and Unilever, and graduated from Barnard College with a double major in history and architectural history. After college, she briefly worked as a Wall Street stockbroker before launching a catering business in the 1970s that led to her first book, Entertaining. 

Stewart’s catering success evolved into a publishing, broadcasting, and merchandising empire — Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia — which went public in 1999, briefly making her America’s first self-made female billionaire. On TV, she hosted Martha Stewart Living in syndication from 1993 to 2004, followed by The Martha Stewart Show from 2005 to 2012. Since 2025, she has co-hosted NBC’s Yes, Chef! alongside José Andrés. 

Stewart married Andrew Stewart in 1961; their daughter Alexis was born in 1965. The couple separated in 1987 and divorced in 1990. She primarily resides at Cantitoe Corners, her 153-acre estate in Katonah, New York.