Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo received the L.A. Times profile treatment this week.
The outlet’s media reporter Steve Battaglio writes about Bartiromo’s role as the “hardest working person in TV business news ” (she hosts three Fox News/FBN programs per week, one which is a Monday-Friday morning show on FBN), her being a role model for young women looking to break into finance and, of course, her highly publicized move from CNBC to Fox Business in 2013 (though her first day at Fox was actually Feb. 1, 2014).
Battaglio also reports that Bartiromo’s familiarity with the finance community over 25 years “helps her draw the most upscale audiences in cable news. Mornings With Maria viewers have a median income of $148,200, according to Nielsen data for 2018.”
On being a role model:
With her pioneering role, Bartiromo said she has heard from many women who say she inspired them or their daughters to go into finance. But the anchor is especially proud of her ability to glean information from her sources at big investment firms and pass it along to the TV audience. “Viewers had that research at the same time that the big guys who paid a lot of money for it,” she said. “I feel like I helped level the playing field for the individual investor.
On her November 2013 departure from CNBC, Battaglio writes:
After 20 years with CNBC, Bartiromo decided to move to Fox Business News in 2013, where she was promised the opportunity to cover more than just the financial markets.
“I needed to broaden my portfolio,” she said. “I didn’t want to be the person on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange 30 years later saying, ‘Here’s what’s going on.’” Having a supportive family gave her the courage to make the move. “I know that if something goes wrong, I know that I’ll land on my Chanels,” she said. “If not, I have my family.” Five years later with her contract coming up, she would like to continue. “I love it here,” she said.