From Balance Sheets to Linen Sheets, Martha Stewart Is a Bona Fide Business Genius

Is Martha Stewart immortal?

This is the question posed by one of the more interesting stock offerings to come along in quite a while: a $100 million stake in the dame of domesticity herself, courtesy of an initial-public-offering syndicate led by Morgan Stanley Dean Witter.

The matter of Stewart's immortality is relevant in this regard because, if she is immortal -- indeed, even if we may assume she's got but another 30 years in her as America's leading celebrant of content-free living -- then everyone reading these words would be well advised to drop everything and rush to his or her stockbroker, buy orders at the ready. ...