Life and career

Lesko lives in Kensington, Maryland, with his third wife Wendy Schaetzel Lesko and their two sons, Max and Morgan. He grew up in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Lesko received his undergraduate degree from Marquette University in Milwaukee, then went to Vietnam as a navigator for the U.S. Navy. When Lesko returned he earned a master's degree in business administration (MBA) from American University in Washington D.C. He claims to have researched government grants for over 25 years.

Criticism

Critics claim that Lesko is misleading in his advertisements. A 2004 report by the New York State Consumer Protection Board claimed that most of the grants mentioned in Lesko's books were actually public assistance programs that many people were not eligible for, and that Lesko misrepresented examples of people who had taken advantage of government programs.

The New York Times criticized him for having implied a current association with the paper long after ending a 1992-94 NYT column.

In 2005, Lesko was named #99 in Bernard Goldberg's book 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America because, "He is a symbol for self-centered free-riders."

In an interview with the Washington Post in July 2007, Lesko admitted having assembled his books from government guides to grants and loans: "His business model is simple: 'I get stuff for free and I sell it for as much as I can get.'"

In popular culture

• In the season four episode of The Venture Bros. titled "The Better Man", Jefferson Twilight trains with cardboard cut-outs of various villains. When one of the cut-outs turns out to be Matthew Lesko, Jefferson explains that he mistook Lesko for a villain "he was wearing punctuation on his suit", like that worn by Batman villain Riddler. The Alchemist contends that he "helps people get free money from the government" and therefore is a good guy.
• In the season two episode of Drawn Together titled "Little Orphan Hero", The question mark suit that Spanky Ham wears in the TV commercial is a reference to Lesko.
• Comedian Andy Dick parodied Lesko on his short-lived MTV sketch comedy program The Andy Dick Show.
• In season 6, episode 21 ("My Rabbit") of the television series Scrubs, Dr. Cox refers to Lesko in a rant: "Pregnant women are among a select group of people who are actually allowed to act insane, much like sports mascots, local weathermen, theme park performers and that guy with the question mark jacket who teaches people how to get free money from the government."
• In MAD Classic #45, Lesko is placed second on the 50 Worst Things About Advertising.

Books

Matthew Lesko's company, Information USA, has published several reference books including:

• Information U.S. (1986, ISBN 0-14-046745-9)
• Getting Yours (1987, ISBN 0-14-046760-2)
• 1001 Free Goodies and Cheapies (1994, ISBN 1-878346-25-3)
• Free College Money, Term Papers, and Sex Ed (1994, ISBN 1-878346-24-5)
• Free Health Care, Free Medical Information and Free Prescription Drugs (1995, ISBN 1-878346-34-2)
• Gobs and Gobs of Free Stuff (1996, ISBN 1-878346-33-4)
• Free Legal Help (1996, ISBN 1-878346-35-0)
• Free Stuff for Busy Moms! (1999, ISBN 1-878346-49-0)
• Free College and Training Money For Women (2000, ISBN 1-878346-52-0)
• Free Money and Help for Women Entrepreneurs (2000, ISBN 1-878346-51-2)
• Free Money For Your Retirement (2000, ISBN 1-878346-60-1)
• Free Stuff for Women's Health, Fitness, and Nutrition (2000, ISBN 1-878346-50-4)
• Free Money To Change Your Life (2001, ISBN 1-878346-40-7)
• Free Money To Pay Your Bills (2003, ISBN 1-878346-65-2)
• Free Money To Get A Better Home (2004, ISBN 1-878346-67-9)
• Free Money To Quit Your Job (2004, ISBN 1-878346-68-7)
• Free Money for Entrepreneurs (2005, ISBN 1-878346-69-5)
• American Benefits for Seniors: Getting the Most Out of Your Retirement (2006, ISBN 1-878346-87-3)

All of his books claim to contain information about how to get free money from the United States government.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]