BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : JANUARY 10, 2000 ISSUE
COVER STORY Martha's World KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS Created a media and merchandising giant--'99 sales should hit $224 million--that's now extending to the Net A splashy October IPO gave her empire a market cap of $1.1 billion She has taught Americans to snip, sew, and gently saute their way to the good life, but MARTHA STEWART's best do-it-yourself project won't appear in the pages of her glossy magazine. Behind the scenes, the former Connecticut caterer has created a sprawling media and merchandising empire that leaves larger rivals salivating with envy as they rush to replicate her formula. And in October came the piece de resistance: the workaholic chairman and chief executive of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSO) took her company public and became a billionaire. But Stewart, 58, is hardly taking a break to enjoy the post-IPO party. Instead, she's trying to build an empire that will teach the masses how to organize weddings, parties, and the perfect home--then sell the converts all the gear they need to do so. The goal, she says, is ''to be the only place you need to go to get things for your home.'' Besides her monthly magazine, Stewart produces radio and TV segments and a newspaper column. This year Kmart will sell more than $1 billion of Martha Stewart brand merchandise. Then there's a burgeoning Web site with more than one million registered users. It's hard to believe that less than three years ago, Stewart was working for Time Warner and consulting on a few sheet patterns for Kmart. Credit Sharon Patrick, a former McKinsey consultant who is now company president and chief operating officer. She helped create a plan to buy back Martha Stewart Living magazine from Time Warner, financed in part through a deal with Kmart. Free to run things herself, Stewart has proven to be the consummate corporate manager. Now, however, she must make sure the Martha Stewart brand can survive without Martha Stewart. To do so, she is playing up her pool of in-house experts in various media outlets and looking at the possibility of a new TV series that she won't host. Sounds risky? You bet. But Stewart knows she needs all the help she can get to keep up the growth. Armed with new capital and fresh talent, she's hoping to whip up her best year yet. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP					RELATED ITEMS INTRODUCTION MANAGERS TO WATCH THE TOP ENTREPRENEURS THE TOP 25 MANAGERS Minuro Arakawa Bernard Arnault Arthur Blank Peter Bijur Gordon Binder Steve Case John Chambers James Curvey Thierry Desmarest Bernie Ebbers Tom Engibous Chris Gent Irwin Jacobs Steve Jobs Mel Karmazin James Kelly Timothy Koogle Ken Lay Jenny Ming Thomas Siebel Masayoshi Son Martha Stewart Keiji Tachikawa Jack Welch Yun Jong Yong ONLINE EXTRAS TO BUSINESS WEEK INVESTOR INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online

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