Martha Stewart Reveals the “Big Money” Deal That Made Her Millions

Let’s be honest, we’ve all wondered how much money celebrities actually make. While some stars are happy to put their finances out there, others keep those details firmly under wraps. Martha Stewart, however, is giving us a little peek behind the curtain, and her definition of “big money” involves a lot of zeros.

During the October 6 episode of MasterClass’ new business podcast, Other People’s Business, Stewart sat down with MasterClass founder and CEO David Rogier to talk about her career, including the deal that really changed the game for her financially.

“Kmart was my first big money, and it was a lot of money,” she said. “I was clearing $65 million a year in royalties. Because we were selling close to $2 billion worth of merchandise.”

That was a pretty major jump from her early days running a catering business, which she said brought in a little more than $1 million in revenue. But there was a catch.

"I was killing myself physically. And I had a big staff to pay and everything else. But that was still a big beginner business."

According to Stewart, those kinds of massive royalty deals are also harder to come by now.

“It's harder to do that nowadays because first of all, the royalties aren't the same,” she explained. “Now it's three percent of wholesale and, you know, it gets lesser and lesser. Companies are paying such small royalties.”

Of course, Stewart has also experienced some major financial lows. Reflecting on one particularly difficult period, she bluntly said, “I fell in a hole, and I lost about $1 billion.” She also opened up about serving five months in prison following her involvement in a 2004 insider trading scandal, saying that “lawyers took me to the cleaners.” Still, Stewart isn't dwelling on it. “I’m back. I’m pretty good.”

And these days, her celebrity status can come with some pretty interesting perks. Stewart noted that influencers, herself included, are sometimes compensated with products instead of cash.

“I get asked to go to a fashion show and I then get $40,000 worth of clothes,” she said. “That's a lot of money, $40,000, to dress me to go to the fashion show. Just to show up.”

“I love that gig,” she added.

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