Maria Bartiromo biography

Synopsis

Early Career

Journalist. Born September 11, 1967, the youngest of three children of Vincent and Josephine Bartiromo. Bartiromo grew up in Bay Ridge, a working-class, primarily Italian neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Her father owned Rex Manor, an Italian restaurant where Maria worked checking coats as a teenager. After graduating from Fontbonne Hall Academy, an all-girls Catholic high school, Bartiromo briefly attended Long Island University before transferring to New York University, where she majored in business and journalism.

At various points in her childhood, Bartiromo considered becoming a nurse, interior decorator, back-up singer or pharmacist. However, she said, "when I finally stumbled on broadcast journalism in business news, I realized I had found my true love." Bartiromo was hired as an intern at CNN in 1988. For five years, she labored in low-paying, off-camera jobs at the network, offering to cover for other reporters after finishing her regular shift in order to build up her on-air portfolio. By August 1993, she had enough clips to send to Roger Ailes, then the president of CNBC. He hired her that month.

Groundbreaking Report

In 1995, two years into her tenure at CNBC, Bartiromo became the first reporter ever to report on television live from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. It was a groundbreaking move, especially since the reporter in question was female - and sometimes the only woman on the floor. It was not an easy transition. Male traders who found her presence unwelcome shoved and yelled at her. Bartiromo stood her ground. "In a situation like that, I can only recommend making sure that ... you know your stuff - that's most important - and that you stand firm and be determined, as I try to be," she said of the experience.

Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo

Bartiromo soon became one of the most popular figures on CNBC. In 2002, she became the anchor of Closing Bell With Maria Bartiromo, a daily program on the cable network. Two years later, she added to her résumé an anchoring gig on the weekly show The Wall Street Journal Report. Her good looks earned her the nickname "Money Honey," first coined by the tabloid New York Post. Though offended at first, Bartiromo has since accepted the nickname. She has even gone so far as to trademark the moniker in January 2007, and has said she is planning a children's program by that name that will teach money fundamentals. "I don't take myself or that name too seriously," she said.

Bartiromo is known for her unparalleled access to the major newsmakers of the business world, the result of a giant Rolodex cultivated over her many years in the business.