Maria Bartiromo

Maria Sara Bartiromo was born on September 11, 1967, in New York City, and was raised in Brooklyn’s Dyker Heights area. Her Italian-American parents, Vincent and Josephine Bartiromo, owned a restaurant where she worked in her early years, and her mother also worked at an off-track betting parlor. She attended Fontbonne Hall Academy, an all-girls private Catholic school in Bay Ridge. Bartiromo began her higher education at C. W. Post before transferring to New York University, graduating in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts in journalism and economics. During her college years, she interned on Barry Farber’s radio show on WMCA 570 and later at CNN, gaining valuable early experience in broadcast journalism.

After her internship in 1988 or 1989, Bartiromo spent five years at CNN Business as an executive producer and assignment editor, where she worked under Lou Dobbs and as a production assistant for Stuart Varney. In 1993, she joined CNBC and became the first television journalist to report live daily from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. This pioneering role established her as a prominent figure in financial news. During her 20-year tenure at CNBC, she hosted and contributed to significant programs like ‘Market Watch’ and ‘Squawk Box,’ and anchored ‘Closing Bell’ (2002–2013) and ‘On the Money with Maria Bartiromo.’ She was known for securing interviews with top CEOs, enhancing her influence in the financial industry. Her work during this period, which largely focused on non-political financial reporting, earned her two Emmy Awards and a Gracie Award.

Bartiromo moved to Fox Business Network (FBN) in January 2014 as Global Markets Editor, taking on roles as anchor of ‘Mornings with Maria’ and ‘Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo’ on Fox News Channel. She expanded her coverage beyond markets to include public policy and the broader economy. Her tenure at Fox saw her moderate Republican presidential debates in 2015 and 2016. After Donald Trump’s presidency began in 2017, her reporting shifted to an advocacy role for his administration, marked by frequent unchallenging interviews and the promotion of administration talking points. This period led to increased ratings for her shows but also drew criticism and involvement in defamation lawsuits regarding unproven conspiracy theories related to the 2020 United States presidential election. She has authored several books, including ‘Use the News’ (2001) and ‘The Weekend That Changed Wall Street’ (2011), and is a member of the board of trustees at New York University and the Council on Foreign Relations.