- published: 09 Mar 2015
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Charles Koppelman (born March 30, 1940) is a musician, music producer, and businessman. He has held executive positions at EMI and Steve Madden, and he is former Chairman of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. He is currently CEO of CAK Entertainment.
Koppelman was born to a Jewish family, the son of Ruth and Irving Koppelman.
Koppelman broke into the music business as a member of the musical group The Ivy Three which had a Top 10 hit in 1960 entitled "Yogi", after the cartoon Yogi Bear. Soon, Koppelman and bandmate and future business partner Don Rubin joined the songwriting staff of Aldon Music under CEO Don Kirshner, a group that included Carole King, Neil Sedaka, Barry Mann, and Cynthia Weil. When Columbia Pictures purchased Aldon Music, Koppelman was promoted to director of Screen Gems/Columbia Music, the new company that resulted from the merger. In 1965, with financial backing of his uncle, Leon Koppelman, Koppelman and Rubin left Columbia to form Koppelman/Rubin Associates, an entertainment company that signed The Lovin Spoonful the same year. In 1967, Koppleman/Rubin signed The Little Bits of Sound a group from Long Island, New York with a psychedelic sound. In 1968, Commonwealth United purchased Koppelman/Rubin Associates and Koppelman and Rubin stayed on to run the music division. In 1968 they signed the Psychedelic band Gandalf and famously made the band change its name to Gandalf. During the early 1970s, Koppelman moved on to CBS Records and held numerous positions, including Vice President/National Director of A&R where he signed acts including Billy Joel, Dave Mason, Janis Ian, Journey, and Phoebe Snow.
Martha Helen Stewart (née Kostyra; born August 3, 1941) is an American businesswoman, writer, and television personality. As founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she has gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing publishing, broadcasting, merchandising, and electronic commerce. She has written numerous bestselling books, is the publisher of the Martha Stewart Living magazine, and hosted two long-running syndicated television shows, Martha, which ran from 2005 to 2012, and Martha Stewart Living, which ran from 1993 to 2005.
In 2004, Stewart was convicted of charges related to the ImClone insider trading affair and sentenced to prison. There was speculation that the incident would effectively end her media empire, although Stewart began a comeback campaign in 2005 and her company returned to profitability in 2006. Stewart rejoined the board of directors of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia in 2011 and became chairman of her namesake company again in 2012.