Steve Biography

Early life and Education of Steve

Steve Madden came from a mixed religious background. His father owned a textile company and was Irish-American and Roman Catholic, while his mother was Jewish, as were a large number of Five Towns households.

He was born in 1958 in Far Rockaway, Queens and grew up in Cedarhurst, New York, one of Long Island's Five Towns conglomeration of suburbs. Steve Bannon holds American nationality with white ethnicity

He attended the local high school in Nassau County. While in high school he got a job in a shoe store and took a quick liking to the footwear business. After two years of study at the University of Miami, he moved to New York City, where he sold shoes for two years.

Steve's Career

Steve Madden began his career in 1980, working for 'L.J. Simone', a wholesale firm, where he learned how shoes were manufactured and marketed. After leaving Simone in 1988, Madden and his partner tried to launch 'Souliers,' a brand of women’s shoes, for the MCM footwear company, but this effort was unsuccessful.

In 1990, he founded 'Steven Madden, Ltd' started out by having 500 pairs of shoes, his own design and selling them to New York City-area stores from the trunk of his car. His first major success, the 'Mary Lou', was a variation on the classic Mary Jane style of women’s shoe.

In 1993, Steve opened his first retail store. In the same year, seeking more capital, he entrusted his company’s initial public offering of stock to the Long Island securities firm of Stratton Oakmont, where Danny Porush, a childhood friend, was a partner.

In 1990, he became chair and chief executive officer when it became a publicly traded company, but in 1993 he resigned from the posts to serve as creative and design chief.

Criminal conviction

Steve Madden's financial affairs were closely entangled with Long Island "pump and dump" brokerage house Stratton Oakmont, cofounded by Danny Porush, his childhood friend.

In June 2000, a class action lawsuit was filed against Madden for issuing materially false and misleading statements during the Class Period.

In 2001, the SEC filed charges against him in Federal Court in New York state, alleging SEC violations.As the violations were not criminal in nature, the SEC was seeking to recover $1,637,000.

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In 2002, Madden was convicted of stock manipulation, money, and securities fraud also sentenced to 31 months in prison and was made to resign as CEO from Steven Madden, Ltd. also from the board of directors.

After retiring as CEO, he also worked as a creative consultant with Steven Madden, Ltd., and he drew $700,000.

Madden worked at the Federal Prison Camp, Eglin, at Eglin Air Force Base, and later the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex, near Ocala, Florida.

Post-Release

In 2005, Steve Madden released from prison.Meanwhile, his company rebounded, increasing revenue by nearly $100 million in 2006 to $475.1 million.

Steven Madden, Ltd. was named ‘Company of the Year’ for the second time at the Footwear News Achievement Awards.

Madden worked as the founder and design chief, and the company continued to show growth year-over-year reporting $1.41 billion in revenue for FY2015.

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He has contributed to many charities and organizations, including 'The Doe Fund,' which develop and implement cost-effective, holistic programs that meet the needs of a diverse population working to break the cycles of homelessness, addiction, and criminal recidivism.

In popular culture, Steve Madden also featured in 'The Wolf of Wall Street,' the Martin Scorsese film based on the Jordan Belfort memoir of the same name.

Steve's Personal life

Steve Madden married Wendy Ballew, former director of operations, in 2005 after being released from prison. The couple divorced in 2015. The ex-couple has three children including twins Jack Madden and Stevie Madden Madden, and Goldie Ryan Madden.

Madden is possibly single right now.

Steve's Networth

Madden has an approx net worth of $120 million. He somehow remained on his company, which was controversial, as creative and design chief, with a salary of $700,000 a year.