Martha Stewart looked triumphant on Wednesday when she presided over the ringing of the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
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The 84-year-old lifestyle guru beamed from the balcony of the iconic Wall Street building as she joined Miracle-Gro CFO Mark Scheiwer to ring the closing bell.
It was an astounding reversal of fortune for Stewart, who had been forced to resign from the board of the NYSE in 2002 as part of the fallout from her insider trading scandal.
The scandal snowballed, and Stewart was indicted in 2003 and then convicted the following year of four felony charges related to the insider trading, though she pleaded not guilty and continued to maintain her innocence even after her conviction.
Stewart — who recently weighed in on ICE visiting her posh New York City suburb — joined Miracle-Gro, which was celebrating 30 years of being listed on the NYSE, after she was named the brand's Chief Gardening Officer in March of 2025.
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The home decor icon cut a stylish figure on the stock exchange in a brown leather blouse featuring a long collar tied like a bow around her throat.
Martha Stewart, 84, looked triumphant on Wednesday when she presided over the ringing of the closing bell at the NYSE. She beamed from the balcony as she joined Miracle-Gro CFO Mark Scheiwer to ring the closing bell
It was an astounding reversal of fortune for Stewart, who had been forced to resign from the board of the NYSE in 2002 as part of the fallout from her insider trading scandal
The scandal snowballed, and Stewart was indicted in 2003 and convicted in 2004 of four felony charges related to insider trading, though she pleaded not guilty and maintained her innocence even after her conviction; she's pictured leaving federal court in NYC in March 2004
She wore her blond shoulder-length hair with a side part and curled it slightly at the bottom.
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Stewart was pictured beaming as she commemorated the occasion by signing the guest book on the floor of the stock exchange while accompanied by NYSE Vice President Chris Taylor.
Her current rehabilitation in the public eye would have been hard to imagine more than two decades ago in the midst of her insider trading scandal.
The controversy kicked off in 2001, when executives at the pharmaceutical company ImClone learned that a highly anticipated drug the company had developed had failed to get FDA approval.
Knowing that the company's stock would tank once the setback was announced, its founder and other executives began selling their shares in the stock and warned family and friends to also sell.
Stewart was more tangentially involved in the scandal, as she allegedly only sold her stock after her broker told her that he had learned the stock was about to plummet.
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On his tip, Stewart sold $230,000 of ImClone stock, but her role in the insider trading scandal only came to light due to information investigators learned from her broker's assistant.
Ironically, the drug that failed to get FDA approval and set off the wave of insider trading was later approved by the agency in 2004 — the same year that Stewart was convicted — after ImClone's collaborator set up another successful clinical trial and reapplied for approval.
The home decor icon cut a stylish figure on the stock exchange in a brown leather blouse featuring a long collar tied like a bow around her throat
Stewart joined Miracle-Gro, which was celebrating 30 years of being listed on the NYSE, after she was named the brand's Chief Gardening Officer in March of 2025
Stewart beamed as she commemorated the occasion by signing the guest book on the floor of the stock exchange while accompanied by NYSE Vice President Chris Taylor (front left) and Miracle-Gro CFO Mark Scheiwer (center)
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In 2001, Stewart sold $230k of a pharmaceutical stock after her broker allegedly told her that a drug had not received FDA approval. She was indicted in 2003 and convicted of four felonies relating to insider trading in 2004; pictured March 4, 2004, amid jury deliberations in NYC
Stewart was sentenced to five months at a federal prison camp, followed by five months of home confinement and two years of probation, along with a $30k fine; pictured in February 2004 in NYC
In June 2003, Stewart and her broker were both indicted, with the government claiming that Stewart had saved herself from a loss of nearly $46 thousand by selling her shares early.
Stewart pleaded not guilty to the charges, but she resigned as the chairman and CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, though she retained a seat on the board.
The self-help star went on to profess her innocence in a full-page ad in USA Today just a day after she was indicted.
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'I want you to know that I am innocent — and that I will fight to clear my name,' she declared in the high-profile ad.
After the most serious charge — which could have carried a 10-year sentence — was dismissed, Stewart was convicted in March 2004 by the jury of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and two counts of making false statements to a federal investigator.
However, she was found not guilty on the remaining charges.
In July, she was sentenced to five months in prison, followed by five months of home confinement and two years of probation, and she was also hit with a $30 thousand fine.
Stewart served her sentence at the Alderson Federal Prison Camp in West Virginia.
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After her release, Stewart hit the ground running to kickstart her comeback.
She revived her magazine, Martha Stewart Living, and launched a new eponymous cooking show, as well as hosting a one-season spinoff of The Apprentice, inaugurating what became one of the smoothest public comebacks in recent memory.