Maria Bartiromo (born September 11, 1967 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American financial reporter, television personality, and author, most known for her work on the financial channel CNBC.
Bartiromo grew up in Brooklyn. As a teenager, Maria checked coats at her parents' Italian restaurant, at which her father was the chef. Bartiromo graduated from New York University with a degree in journalism and a minor in economics.
Before joining CNBC in 1993, Bartiromo was a producer and assignment editor with CNN Business News. Bartiromo was the first person, male or female, to report regularly live from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. With CNBC she hosted their Marketwatch program from 10am-12pm ET, as well as being a regular contributor to Squawk Box for many years before leaving the morning program.
Bartiromo currently anchors the Closing Bell show on CNBC from 3pm-5pm ET. She also anchors and co-produces Wall Street Journal Report with Maria Bartiromo, a CNBC show where she interviews prominent businesspeople, entertainers, athletes, and politicians. In addition, she wrote monthly columns for Individual Investor and Ticker magazines, and she contributes to NBC's The Today Show.
Due to an appearance that somewhat resembled famed Italian actress Sophia Loren, Bartiromo was nicknamed the "Money Honey" and "Econo Babe" by tabloid newspapers during the boom years of the stock market in the late 1990s. She was voted No. 81 in the FHM 100 Sexiest Women in the World 2003 list. She has also made appearances on numerous non-financial television shows, including NBC Universal's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O'Brien , The Caroline Rhea Show, and McEnroe, as well as guest-hosting on Live with Regis and Kelly.
Her first book was Use the News: How to Separate the Noise from the Investment Nuggets. She also wrote How to Make Money in Any Economy.
She is married to Jonathan Steinberg, the son of financier Saul Steinberg, and is the subject of a song entitled "Maria Bartiromo" by Joey Ramone.
A former employee of James Cramer recounted in a tell-all book how Cramer would feed rumors to Bartiromo, intended to affect the value of his positions when Bartiromo repeated them on the air. Cramer and Bartiromo deny the accusation.
As of late 2005, there are rumors she may leave CNBC at the end of her contract, possibly to move to FOX.
