Lifestyle media mogul Martha Stewart became a billionaire in 2005 while she was in prison for obstruction of justice. Although it was thought that Stewart's incarceration would damage her brand’s profits, shares of her company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, increased in value by more than 90% during the five months she was in prison. Stewart had transferred her 29 million shares in Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia to her daughter before her sentencing, but still retained ownership and control, increasing her worth to more than $1 billion US Dollars while in prison. After Stewart's release in March 2005, her company's share value dropped by 40%, and she was no longer a billionaire.
More about Martha Stewart :
- Before she found success in her cooking, entertaining and decorating media empire, Stewart was a child model and later worked as a stockbroker.
- Stewart is not a classically trained chef but instead taught herself gourmet cooking by reading books.
- After settling charges of insider trading in 2006, Stewart was banned from being the chief executive or chief financial officer of any companies.