Media mogul famous for her talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show, Oprah Winfrey’s net worth is over £2 billion
It’s impossible to speak about women in powerful positions without mentioning Oprah Winfrey. At the age of 63, showbiz mogul, actress, philanthropist and entrepreneur has made her billions through her many accomplishments – the main being The Oprah Show.
As a global media leader she is one of the most respected and admired public figures of today, but before becoming the first lady of talk shows, Oprah’s life wasn’t what most would call glamorous.
She was born in Mississippi and her parents separated soon after her birth leaving her in the care of her grandmother. From a young age she always showed great potential, she would spend hours performing to an audience of farm animals at her grandmother’s home.
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She wasn’t one to settle in one place, at the age of six, Winfrey was sent back to live with her mother in Milwaukee and moved again at the age of 12 to live with her father in Nashville – there, her dream began to turn into a reality and she received her first big pay-out for speaking at a social gathering.
At that stage, Winfrey didn’t have a stable home, she moved back and forth between her mother and father’s homes, but that didn’t stop her from attaining the best grades in school and being involved in all social clubs.
Her four-decade career started off with Oprah reporting for Nashville news in the 70s then going on to do a 30-minute talk show on WLS-TV. The show was extended to an hour talk show and renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show – it lead to Oprah becoming the first black woman to be a billionaire at the age of 49. (businessinsider.com)
Over the course of the next few years she started her own production company, Harpo Productions, launched O, The Oprah Magazine in 2000 – bringing in consumer revenue of just over £7 bn. Her television channel OWN (The Oprah Winfrey Network) – which she recently sold a 24.5 per cent stake in for over £5 millionand Winfrey’s shares are worth £54 million.
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Oprah is also involved with weight loss company, Weight Watchers, also owning a 10 per cent stake.
Her biggest project as of late is her part in the £700 million remake of the classic ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ together with Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling.
In addition to her media businesses, Winfrey also invests in property. She currently lives on an estate in California worth £20 million, owns a ski chalet in Colorado and other homes in Hawaii and Tennessee and not forgetting her private jet worth £30 million.
Not only did Oprah follow her dreams, no doubt overcoming race related obstacles, but through it, she encourages the expressive, compassionate and intimate way of speaking that people now require from public figures and politicians.
