Martha Stewart has been a household name for decades, and Netflix’s documentary film Martha now explores her career and rise to fame; it also covers Martha Stewart’s conviction and time in jail. Stewart began her career as a model to help support her family, but she is best known for her work as a homemaker and lifestyle celebrity, which led to her becoming the first female American self-made billionaire.

Even before she became famous for her lifestyle TV shows and publications, Stewart worked as a stockbroker and caterer, displaying her hard-working personality. Throughout Martha, director R.J. Cutler and Stewart herself focus on her perfectionism and desire to show that homemaking is a worthwhile pursuit, not something to be sidelined. Her ability to illustrate household tasks as aspirational garnered many fans and made her an incredibly successful businessperson — with an impressive net worth to match.

Martha Stewart’s Net Worth Is Estimated To Be $400 Million

Netflix’s Martha Highlights Stewart’s Achievement As A Self-Made Billionaire In 2000

Determining Stewart’s current net worth is slightly complicated due to her rise and fall in the public consciousness on which most of her business relies. Recently, Parade magazine estimated Stewart’s net worth to be around $400 million. However, this number does not tell the full story, as her popularity and business dealings have fluctuated greatly since her rise to fame in the 1980s.

Martha Stewart first became a billionaire after taking her company Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia public in 1999, a decision that made her the first American woman to become a self-made billionaire.

At its highest, Stewart’s net worth was over $1 billion, and, funnily enough, she hit this benchmark twice. Stewart first became a billionaire after taking her company Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia public in 1999, a decision that made her the first American woman to become a self-made billionaire. Additionally, Forbes reported that Stewart’s fortune hit the $1 billion mark again during her time in prison in 2005, although it did not stay there for long.

How Martha Stewart’s Conviction Affected Her Net Worth

Stewart’s Famous Trial Impacted Her Public Perception & Lifestyle Business

Martha also explores Stewart’s involvement in the ImClone stock trading case of 2004, following which she was ultimately convicted of insider trading. The highly publicized trial forced negative attention on Stewart and caused confidence in her, and her company, to drop. Stewart served five months in prison and an additional five months of house arrest. Strangely, while Stewart was in prison, her net worth hit $1 billion again.

However, after her release in 2005, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia’s stock dropped again. After this time, Forbes estimated that share prices dropped by 40%, and Stewart’s net worth was $550 million. This is certainly no small number, and more recent business ventures have caused her net worth to vary since then. While Stewart’s career has regrown since her release from prison and reemergence into the cultural zeitgeist, it would be difficult for her to return to the billionaire status that she once held.

Sources: Parade, Forbes