Background

Maria was born on September 11, 1967 to American-Italian parents. She was a student at Fontbonne Hall Academy located in Bay Ridge and later went to New York University to pursue her Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Economics.

She really enjoyed growing up in Brooklyn because it was a great neighborhood. She grew up on a street where there was a lot of young people and children playing outside. She would play a game called manhunt and stick ball on her block. It was very much a family neighborhood. Brooklyn was a great place for her to live because it felt like it was a suburban environment, but it really wasn’t. As a young woman, she could go into the city and have fun and still be 30 minutes from home. It was a middle class environment where all the neighbors knew each other, and her parents were very hard working her whole life. She always watched them work very hard and that’s obviously why she also works so hard. She still goes back a lot to her old home town because she still has family there. She is very grateful to have been raised in Brooklyn.

Maria’s parents owned an Italian restaurant. The restaurant was called Rex Manor, and she used to check coats there and on Saturdays. At some point she wanted to become a singer, a pharmacist, nurse or interior decorator but she finally decided on a career when she studied journalism. It was then when she found out what her true love was.

She describes her mother as “her friend and her hero”. Her mother worked hard to bring up her three kids and always taught her not to give up.

Journalism Career

Maria has appeared on numerous television shows and also received awards for her journalism work. Maria started off her broadcasting career as a producer and assignment editor of the show, CNN Business News. After spending 5 productive years in CNN, she moved on and joined CNBC in 1993, as a host and managing editor of her own show, On the Money with Maria Bartiromo. The format of the show involved Maria interview financial figures and analysts.  She was the first reporter who reported directly from the NYSE and she did it daily. This move was quite unwelcomed from the male traders present in the NYSE, but she kept her cool and said that she was confident as she knew her stuff.

Bartiromo says that she takes lessons from world leaders and corporate giants. She was brought up in working class and mentioned how she was taught that hard work is one of the most important things in life. In the year 2002, she started anchoring Closing Bell, a daily program on cable network.  In 2007, Maria went on to host the show, The Business of Innovation. She was a hit with producers and viewers of CNBC. She was tasked to host various programs such as Closing Bell, Business Centre and Market Wrap.