A stressed out Betty tells Matt that she's not interested in learning about his Sports Magazine industry which Matt tells her she prejudged him as a 'sports guy' and that she fits in the 'shallow' category of the Fashion Industry. Initially Betty is frustrated at Matt who trails her and asks her tedious and annoying questions during the stressful periods of Fashion Week. Betty dismisses his attempt him until they are paired together as YETI partners, to gain experience in a different magazine industry. He tries to introduce himself to Betty by asking whether his jacket was brown or different variants of brown such as mocha, mud and tree bark. Matt is introduced in the fifteenth episode in season 3 of Ugly Betty as a fellow Young Editors Training Initiative (YETI) student. He took a position as the Managing Editor at Mode Magazine, after his father offered him a job at Mode. He also has a brown belt in karate, an athlete in running long distances, and is fluent in three languages. He was former sports writer who switched careers frequently, pursuing careers in law, medicine, music and painting.
Brought up in prestigious and privilege lifestyle, he attended Yale University and studied piano at the Turtle Bay Music School. Matt has a MBA, half a law degree and nearly became a large animal vet. They are divorced and are bitter to each other. Matt belongs to a prominent wealthy family his parents are socialite Victoria Hartley and business man and philanthropist Cal Hartley (who was the "silent" owner of Meade Publications).