:Matthew Lesko

Lesko grew up in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He is of Slovak descent.{{Cite book |last=Rechcigl |first=Miloslav |title=Notable Americans of Czechoslovak Ancestry in Arts and Letters and in Education |publisher=AuthorHouse |year=2021 |isbn=9781665540063 |location=Bloomington |pages=1031 |language=EN}} Lesko received his undergraduate degree from Marquette University in Milwaukee. Upon graduation he was commissioned as an officer in the Navy. In the Navy, he served as a navigator aboard the USS Oxford in the South China Sea during the Vietnam War.Triplett, William. [http://vvaveteran.org/39-3/39-3_lesko.html "Matthew Lesko The 'Free Money' Man: Asking the Right Questions"], Vietnam Veterans of America, The VVA Veteran Online magazine, May/June 2019. Retrieved August 4, 2019. When Lesko returned he earned a master's degree in business administration (MBA) from American University in Washington, D.C.

In 1975, Lesko quit his job designing computerized information systems and co-founded Washington Researchers with his then-wife Leila K. Kight.{{Cite news|title=The Facts Fanciers... From Cocoa Beans to Clothespins|last=Kernan|first=Michael|date=March 20, 1979|newspaper=The Washington Post|id = {{ProQuest|147018445}}}}

After a slow start, Lesko started sending out a professional newsletter telling people how to get free information and, by 1979, Washington Researchers employed 30 people in its Washington, D.C. office.

As side lines of business, Lesko began publishing directories for those who preferred to do their own research, such as the Researcher's Guide to Washington, and conducting seminars on the types of information then available from the government.

Lesko was able to interest publisher Viking in his idea to publish a directory of government information sources in 1980.{{cite news|title=Media Fast Track|date=January 13, 1980|newspaper=The Washington Post|id={{ProQuest| }}}} That book, Getting Yours: The Complete Guide to Government Money, was published by Viking's Penguin subsidiary in 1982.{{Cite news|title=Media Fast Track|date=April 25, 1982|newspaper=The Washington Post|id = {{ProQuest|147447111}}}}

He claims to have researched government grants for over 25 years.{{cite news

| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/14/AR2007071401118.html?hpid=artslot&sub=AR

| title = Marked Man: Washington's Infomercial King? Matthew Lesko, No Question.

| newspaper = The Washington Post

| date=July 15, 2007

| access-date = July 15, 2007

| first=Peter

| last=Carlson

}}

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.{{cite web |year=2004 |url=http://www.consumer.state.ny.us/pdf/misleading_grant_guides.pdf |title=How misleading advertising is feeding a nationwide boom in government grant scams |publisher=New York State Consumer Protection Board |access-date=April 30, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061207041420/http://www.consumer.state.ny.us/pdf/misleading_grant_guides.pdf |archive-date=December 7, 2006}}

The New York Times criticized him for having implied a current association with the paper long after ending a 1992–1994 Times column.{{cite news |first=Joseph P. |last=Fred |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/13/nyregion/13lesko.html?ex=1265950800&en=e0c158bc33ea5e70&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland |title=Free Money? Sure. Heard of Food Stamps? |work=The New York Times |date=March 3, 2005 |access-date=April 22, 2006}} "In August 2006, Lesko modified his credentials on his Web site, lesko.com, which described him (as his books did) as a columnist for Good Housekeeping Magazine and The New York Times Syndicate. He wrote the magazine column in the 1980s and the column for the syndicate from 1992 to 1994. Both organizations recently told him that these did not justify his suggestion of a current association."

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."{{cite web|url=http://www.philosophistry.com/specials/100-people.html|publisher=Philosophy History|title=Bernard Goldberg's 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America? And Why?|first=Philip |last=Dhingra|date=August 8, 2005|quote=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, quoting Lesko as saying of his first book "I plagiarized the whole thing" and "I didn't write a lick." Lesko later added "I get stuff for free and I sell it for as much as I can get."{{cite news|newspaper=The Washington Post|first=Peter|last=Carlson|date=July 15, 2007|title=Marked Man

|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/14/AR2007071401118_2.html}} But in the last couple paragraphs of the same article, the author cites the names of multiple people who have actually used Lesko's books and teachings to get free money for several different things, everything from having their roof replaced on their home to "a local government program that gave them $12,000 to help pay for a gravel walkway for their cows."{{Cite news |date=2007-07-15 |title=Marked Man |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/14/AR2007071401118.html |access-date=2024-05-25 |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}

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}})
• Lesko's Info-Power (1994, {{ISBN|1-878346-17-2}})
• 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.

{{reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lesko, Matthew}}

Category:Living people

Category:American information and reference writers

Category:American television personalities

Category:Kogod School of Business alumni

Category:Marquette University alumni

Category:Writers from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

Category:United States Navy personnel of the Vietnam War

Category:Infomercial pitchmen

Category:United States Navy officers

Category:American University alumni

Category:Military personnel from Pennsylvania

Category:American people of Slovak descent

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)