Martha Inc.

by Christopher M. Byron

• ISBN13: 9780471123002
• ISBN10: 0471123005
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-04-01
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

Martha Stewart has generated an enormous following by establishing herself as the leading authority for all things domestic and in the process created a multimillion-dollar enterprise and a personal net worth of nearly $2 billion. As one of the most successful self-made female business owners in American history, Martha Stewart is a topic of interest for fans, business professionals and would-be entrepreneurs alike. Martha Inc. tells the compelling story of how this complex woman created an empire on domesticity and examines her business inside and out. Through an engaging narrative by popular columnist Christopher Byron, this book chronicles how the business was built, what it took to take it public, and the personal and professional transformation Martha has undergone to make it all work. To get a true portrait of the woman whose work ethic is her personal life, Byron delves into the underreported facets of Martha's past, such as the effects her challenging childhood and years on Wall Street have had on her uncompromising business acumen. From Martha Stewart Living magazine and marthastewart.com to a K-Mart line of houseware products, a line of house paints, and a television show, this book details how a former caterer from Connecticut has created a media and merchandising empire, pulling off what large media corporations with vast resources struggle to accomplish. Martha Stewart has sold America on good taste and now readers can learn exactly how she did it and what drives her to keep conquering new vistas. A corporate biography as well as a success story worthy of Horatio Alger, Martha Inc. also delves into how a cult of personality is created and how Martha Stewart capitalized on the zeitgeist that characterized the last half of the twentieth century. This book is a must read for anyone who has been touched by Martha's marketing savvy or who dreams of making it big.

Author Biography

CHRISTOPHER BYRON has been writing about business and finance for over 30 years. His well-known "Back of the Envelope" column ran in The New York Observer for six years and now runs in The New York Post. He is also a contributing editor and financial columnist for MSNBC and Red Herring, and the host of a syndicated daily radio show, Wall Street Wakeup with Chris Byron. Byron worked as an editor and correspondent for Time, and as assistant managing editor of Forbes. He has written four books and his articles have appeared in Esquire, Playboy, New York, Worth, Men's Health, and Travel Holiday magazines, New York Daily News, and on Bloomberg News. Byron graduated from Yale College and the Columbia University School of Law. He is a veteran of the U.S. Navy and lives in Connecticut with his family.

Table of Contents

Prologue.

1. Nancy Drew and the Case of the Hidden Childhood.

2. A Model Life.

3. To Wall Street.

4. The Page Turns.

5. A Nascent Empire: The Martha Moment Is Born.

6. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

7. Making the Best-Seller List.

8. Kmart Calls.

9. How to Negotiate a Contract.

10. Strategy: Get Others to Pay.

11. Controlling the Stress Lines.

12. No Good Deed Goes Unpunished.

13. Time Takes Martha.

14. Martha Takes TV.

15. In the Company of Women.

16. Scheming Times.

17. A Taxing Situation.

18. Time Takes a Licking.

19. Labor Relations.

20. When Being in the Public Eye Is Not a Good Thing.

21. From Wall Street to Main Street.

22. To the Ends of the Earth.

Epilogue.

Acknowledgments.

Source Notes.

Index.