Martha Stewart Sells Shares
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Martha Stewart, the founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc., has sold 75,000 shares and plans to sell an additional 425,000 shares to pay for expenses tied to her obstruction of justice trial, a spokeswoman said Friday.
The sale represents less than 2% of her ownership position in Martha Stewart Living, spokeswoman Brooke Morganstein said.
The transactions would bring proceeds of $4.7 million based on Thursday’s closing price of $9.33 a share.
Stewart faces up to 16 months in prison for hindering investigations into why she sold ImClone Systems Inc. stock a day before federal regulators rejected the company’s colon cancer drug.
On Thursday, Stewart’s lawyers asked a federal judge to toss out her March conviction, arguing that false testimony by a government witness deprived her of a fair trial.
The transactions will be Stewart’s first company share sales since her legal difficulties began, said Chris Long, an analyst with Washington Service, which examines stock sales by executives.
“It may just be the reality that she really needs the money,” Long said.
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