Biography & Early Wealth Journey
Maria Bartiromo is one of the most recognizable figures in American business journalism. She spent 20 years at CNBC, where she became the first journalist to report live on a daily basis from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange and helped turn real-time Wall Street coverage into a major part of financial television. Her programs included "Closing Bell," "Market Watch," "Business Center," and "On the Money with Maria Bartiromo." Her combination of market reporting, executive interviews, and on-air personality earned her the nickname "Money Honey" and made her one of CNBC's biggest stars.
In 2014, Bartiromo moved to Fox Business Network and Fox News Channel. Over the next 12 1/2 years, she hosted programs including "Mornings with Maria," "Maria Bartiromo's Wall Street," and "Sunday Morning Futures," while expanding beyond markets into politics, economic policy, and national affairs. On September 3, 2026, Fox News Media announced that it had parted ways with Bartiromo. Her final episode of "Mornings with Maria" aired that morning, bringing an abrupt end to her long Fox tenure. The company did not disclose a reason for the split.
Bartiromo has won two Emmy Awards and a Gracie Award, and in 2011 she became the first female journalist inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame. She has written several books, including "Use the News," "The 10 Laws of Enduring Success," and "The Weekend That Changed Wall Street."
Early Life and Education
Primary Income Streams & Multi-Million Contracts
Maria Bartiromo was born on September 11, 1967, in Brooklyn, New York. She is the daughter of Vincent and Josephine Bartiromo and grew up in an Italian-American family in the Dyker Heights area of Brooklyn. Her father owned the Rex Manor restaurant, where her mother worked as a hostess and Maria held a coat-check job while she was growing up.
Bartiromo attended the Catholic girls' school Fontbonne Hall Academy. She also worked at Kleinfeld Bridal as a stock clerk before beginning college at C.W. Post and later transferring to New York University. She graduated from NYU in 1989 with a degree in journalism and economics.
While attending NYU, Bartiromo began gaining broadcasting experience through radio and internships. She worked on talk-radio host Barry Farber's WMCA program after he visited one of her classes and later landed an internship at CNN.
CNN and CNBC
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Real Estate, Luxury Assets & Personal Investments
After her internship, Bartiromo spent approximately five years at CNN Business News as a producer, writer, and assignment editor. Her supervisor was Lou Dobbs, and she also worked with Stuart Varney. Although she was building a career behind the scenes, Bartiromo wanted to become an on-air reporter.
In 1993, Bartiromo joined CNBC after submitting an audition tape and being hired by Roger Ailes. In 1995, she became the first journalist to report live on a daily basis from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Broadcasting amid traders on the exchange floor gave CNBC's coverage a sense of immediacy that became a defining feature of financial television.
Bartiromo went on to host or anchor programs including "Market Watch," "Squawk Box," "Market Wrap," "Business Center," "Closing Bell," and "On the Money with Maria Bartiromo." She became particularly known for securing interviews with major CEOs, investors, policymakers, and other figures involved in the biggest financial stories of the day.
Her CNBC career lasted two decades and covered the dot-com boom and bust, the September 11 attacks and their effect on the markets, and the 2008 financial crisis. In 2008, she received an Emmy for her coverage surrounding the financial collapse, and she later won another Emmy for the documentary "Inside the Mind of Google."
Wealth Trajectory & Future Earnings Projections
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Fox Business and Fox News
In November 2013, Bartiromo announced that she was leaving CNBC for Fox Business Network and Fox News Channel, beginning her new role in January 2014. Her first Fox Business program was "Opening Bell with Maria Bartiromo." She later became the face of the three-hour morning program "Mornings with Maria," hosted "Maria Bartiromo's Wall Street" on Fox Business, and anchored "Sunday Morning Futures" on Fox News.
The move also broadened Bartiromo's subject matter considerably. While finance and economics remained central to her work, politics became an increasingly prominent part of her programming. She served as a moderator of a Republican presidential debate in November 2015 and became a frequent interviewer of Donald Trump during his presidential campaigns and administrations. During the 2015 debate, Bartiromo drew attention for pressing candidates on economic policy while also acknowledging the government experience of eventual Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
Bartiromo's coverage following the 2020 presidential election became one of the most controversial periods of her career. She conducted Trump's first major television interview after the election and aired claims from Trump and his allies alleging widespread election fraud and misconduct by voting-technology companies. Many of those allegations were false and subsequently became central to major defamation litigation involving Fox.
Voting-technology company Smartmatic filed a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit in 2021 against Fox and defendants including Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs, and Jeanine Pirro. Bartiromo denied wrongdoing and argued that her broadcasts were reporting on newsworthy allegations made by the president and his representatives. The litigation was still proceeding in 2026. Separately, Dominion Voting Systems sued Fox over similar election claims, and Fox agreed to pay Dominion $787.5 million in 2023 to settle that case immediately before trial.
Despite those controversies, Bartiromo remained one of Fox Business's highest-profile personalities for years afterward. Fox described "Mornings with Maria" as the leading pre-market business program on cable, while "Sunday Morning Futures" regularly drew a large Sunday audience.
On September 3, 2026, Fox News Media announced that Bartiromo's run with the company had ended after 12 1/2 years. Her final "Mornings with Maria" aired that morning. Fox said the program would continue under a new name with rotating anchors, while "Maria Bartiromo's Wall Street" would become "FBN's Wall Street." Fox also began the process of selecting a new permanent host for "Sunday Morning Futures." The company thanked Bartiromo for her work but offered no explanation for her departure or information about her next professional move.
Maria Bartiromo Salary
Bartiromo was already one of the highest-paid financial journalists in television by the end of her CNBC career. She was reportedly earning around $4 million per year at CNBC before leaving the network in 2013.
Her initial Fox deal was reportedly worth roughly $5 million to $6 million annually. Later in her Fox tenure, Bartiromo's annual salary was widely reported at approximately $10 million, placing her among the highest-paid television news personalities in the United States. Following her departure from Fox in September 2026, the $10 million figure represents her former Fox compensation rather than a current salary. Fox did not disclose the financial terms of her departure.
Books and Honors
In addition to her television work, Bartiromo has written several books about investing, financial markets, and career success. Her books include "Use the News: How to Separate the Noise from the Investment Nuggets and Make Money in Any Economy," "The 10 Laws of Enduring Success," and "The Weekend That Changed Wall Street."
Her industry honors include two Emmy Awards and a Gracie Award. The "Financial Times" named her one of its "50 Faces That Shaped the Decade" in 2009. She became the first female journalist inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame in 2011 and was honored as one of the Library of American Broadcasting's Giants of Broadcasting & Electronic Arts in 2016. Bartiromo has also served on the Board of Trustees of New York University and taught as an adjunct professor at NYU's Stern School of Business.
Personal Life
Maria has been married to Jonathan Steinberg since 1999. Jonathan is the son of the late financier Saul P. Steinberg, one of the most famous corporate raiders of the 1960s through the 1980s. Saul became a millionaire before age 30 through his computer-leasing company Leasco and later acquired Reliance Insurance. He pursued high-profile takeover attempts involving companies including Chemical Bank and Walt Disney and at one point had a personal fortune estimated at more than $600 million.
Saul's empire eventually suffered a dramatic reversal. Reliance collapsed and filed for bankruptcy in 2001, while Steinberg sold major assets, including his enormous Park Avenue apartment and art collection. Jonathan went on to build his own financial career rather than simply relying on his father's former fortune.
Jonathan founded the company that eventually became WisdomTree, Inc. and has served as its CEO for decades. WisdomTree developed into a publicly traded asset-management company specializing in exchange-traded products and other investment strategies. According to the company's 2026 proxy statement, Jonathan beneficially owned approximately 9.76 million WisdomTree shares, or 6.4% of the company, and received total 2025 compensation of approximately $6.7 million.
Real Estate
In 2007, Jonathan and Maria paid $6.5 million for a five-level townhouse on East 62nd Street on Manhattan's Upper East Side. The home features four wood-burning fireplaces, a large kitchen, a second-floor balcony, and a private rear garden.
Maria and Jonathan have also maintained a home in the Hamptons. Their combination of valuable real estate, Jonathan's large WisdomTree ownership position, investment assets, and decades of high earnings means the couple's overall financial position is substantially greater than Maria's $50 million individual net worth estimate alone would suggest.
Bartiromo
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