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Martha Stewart knows how to get a giggle out of her senior staff. "I mean, I'm not retiring," she says to hoots of laughter. "I wish! Someday."
If anything, having stepped down earlier in June as chairman and CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. (MSLO ) may not be a disaster. "I don't think my creative input into the company has changed," says Stewart, who now goes by the title of founder and chief creative officer. "I hope that actually I can contribute even more in the coming months, years, whatever, because that has been my main focus anyway."
On the eve of the June 26 launch of Everyday Food magazine, her first big announcement since facing a series of charges, including securities fraud, stemming from her sale of Imclone (IMCLE ) stock, Stewart is upbeat about her business, the one she has worked so long to build. But a year of screaming headlines and a battered stock price have taken a toll.
KEEPING QUIET. In an interview with BusinessWeek Online, Stewart expressed frustration at her inability to defend herself and boost public faith in her company. "I just can't go and cry my heart out on Larry King, which I wouldn't mind doing," she says. "You just can't do that -- not in this situation. But the company should be celebrated and celebrated and celebrated for what it is, what it has done, and what it will do in the future. That's what I'm doing."
Stewart and her team are working overtime to let the world know that the show will go on, although Stewart's role has been radically and permanently altered -- even if she is ultimately found innocent. President Sharon Patrick is now the CEO. "I'm not going to go out to speak to the investors like Sharon is going to speak," says Stewart, noting that she's still on the board. "We're working very hard to repair damage that's occurred to the company. The company was not indicted."
Stewart, of course, has been indicted on criminal charges by the Justice Dept. and faces civil charges from the Securities & Exchange Commission that would bar her from running a public company. She acknowledges that defending herself could eat up a healthy chunk of time over the next 12 months. But the celebrated homemaker insists she can divert her attention to her trial and even take some time off without causing disruption in the MSLO ranks. "They would probably love it if I went away for three months and came back with about 5,000 more ideas," she jokes.
DISNEY WITHOUT WALT. The humor may be lost on some investors, and Patrick is exasperated with those who assume Martha the brand must rise or fall with the fortunes of Martha the person. "I drive myself crazy," she says. "The circumstance now has thrown a weird prism on what we were about. We're moving forward. We're still in our strategy. We know where we're going. We tell you where we're going, and we get there. We're really good at what we do." Continues Patrick: "You have to wonder how, at Disney (DIS ), they still do those Mickey Mouse things when Walt has been gone for 30 years."
Then again, Walt Disney was never the face and voice of his brand to the extent Martha has been for hers. What has so unnerved investors from the start of the investigation was the fact that Stewart's company -- rightly or wrongly -- seemed indelibly wrapped up with the personality of its founder. She hosts the daily TV show, does the Kmart (KMRT ) commercials, writes the magazine column and, to the average consumer, embodies the very soul of the brand.
It's a role that Stewart is now eager to downplay. "The name of the company happens to be my name, and I have been the spokesperson for this company," she says. "I'm a good spokesperson. It just happens to be that way, and this company has been very lucky to have a great spokesperson. That's why we grew so fast."
Copyright 2003, by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
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