Inside the glamorous world of the media executive who stole more than $270,000 to fund her lavish life but will not face jail time

Daily Mail​

6 hours ago

A glamorous media executive stole over $270,000 from her former employer to fund a lifestyle of expensive clothing, private gyms, and exclusive vacations.
Shannon Muldoon, 38, managed to swindle bosses at Food52 out of the eyewatering sum while flaunting her extravagant lifestyle to colleagues on her Instagram page.
Muldoon had been the head of Studio 52 for the company, a recipe and lifestyle website, and handled production for brand partnership deals.
Over the course of two years, from 2021 and 2023, she racked up bills as high as $126,000 for luxury clothing on website Net-a-Porter, $17,000 on airline tickets and classes at LIV Method - a private training gym.
All of that was paid for on her company credit card, according to court documents seen by The Cut - which also indicated the amount could be greater.
Muldoon was indicted last August for one count of grand larceny in the second degree and accepted a plea deal for five years probation this year, the outlet said.
The outlet reported that she has paid $15,000 in restitution but could face penalties up to $262,000 and is to be sentenced in September.
Previous colleagues of her have shone a light on how after being promoted to head the studio they quickly noticed a change in her appearance.
Muldoon was hired at the company in early 2020 after being previously employed at Bon Appetit and The New York Times.
That fall she was hired to take over Studio 52 and given a corporate card to hand business expenses.
Shortly after that, one ex colleague told The Cut that 'her clothes started getting better, her nail art was crazy, she got a lot of Botox'.
The anonymous former staffer added: 'You could just tell she was going through a transformation.'
According to the staffer she would often call in to work remotely, despite being solely studio based.
They recalled her joining a Zoom call from a beach bungalow with a Chanel clip in her hair, and Muldoon sending her links to a Gucci jacket asking if she should buy it.
'Shannon was very brazen with her purchases, just showing them off to the world', they added.
Muldoon is said to have continued this type of behavior on social media, displaying trips to Copenhagen, Malibu and a tropical wellness retreat, they added.
Another colleague told the outlet: 'I would sometimes ask where she got a bag or a pair of shoes, and the amount of times she would answer "The Row" shocked me.'
The Row is a luxury fashion label founded by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and is known for its high-quality materials, characterized by an equally as high price point.
They added: 'I mean, we work in media. What the f***', while saying her use of the company card was becoming increasingly obvious.
Colleagues recalled her buying them holiday gifts and taking them all out for elaborate dinners.
One staffer, who worked remotely, was told by Muldoon to come to New York, despite it not being in their contract, and told them to put their hotel and rentals on her card.
It wasn't just the excessive spending that was being noticed, former colleagues recalled her being obsessed with social status.
They said she had claimed to be a Rockette but failed to back that up with proof, she told people she grew up in Manhattan while telling others she was from New Jersey.
The theft went unnoticed for some time, according to internal accounting seen by the outlet she spent nearly $20,000 in a single month.
Food52 started to slump during the pandemic and shut down Studio52 as part of restructuring.
Muldoon repositioned herself as overseeing talent booking and management and was subsequently moved team but the spending continued.
A former staffer said: 'She kind of goes off the brand-partnerships team, but her credit card is still going and still attached to all of our production.
'We were like, 'Why are our videos so expensive? Can we get a report?' We were trying to see it on a higher level, but didn't have access to her personal credit-card statements — that was just her boss and the finance department.'
According to the outlet the company used a program named Expensify to track expenses and each campaign had a different job code.
If the team was coming in at budget and everything was given the correct job code the expense reports would pass through.
Muldoon is said to have exploited the code system to make sure her fraudulent expenses passed, making them appear like they were related to campaigns.
'She was smart about categorizing her expenses per client, and that was a way of not getting flagged. It definitely required some intention and work on her end', a worker said.
In 2023, she seemed to drop off the radar at work with colleagues saying they started hearing less from her.
In March that year she went on medical leave for a month, telling colleagues she was suffering from migraines and said doctors told her it could be multiple sclerosis.
Her absence forced colleagues to file her expenses for her, when they started noticing irregularities.
The first unusual charge was for sneaker reseller site StockX, a $1,589.05 that had already been refunded alongside another $196 charge from the site.
While workers raised concerns, Muldoon is said to have reached out to them via workplace communication platform Slack saying she had flagged it with accounting.
This only exacerbated suspicions, one worker said: 'The second that happened, we're like, Okay, something is up.'
The finance team then started pouring over her expenses and noted anything they couldn't account for.
They soon realized they were hundreds of thousands in the red due to her spending spree.
It was at this same time that Muldoon told a colleague she had requested more time off, seemingly sensing that the jig was up.
The company denied that request and fired her for misuse of company funds shortly after. Three months later she flew to Mexico on a flight paid for using the card.
'She basically walked away with all of the clothes. And the memories', one worker said.
Despite her illness, she also went on to run the New York City Marathon in 2023 before relocating to Los Angeles.
In a statement of facts, the Manhattan DA's office said: 'The $270,000 in unauthorized purchases is a very conservative estimate as to Ms. Muldoon's theft.
'Our investigation showed additional unauthorized purchases from other luxury clothing brands, furniture companies, and other travel related charges.'