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Oprah Winfrey is an American media mogul, television presenter, actress, producer, and philanthropist with a net worth of $2.7 billion as of March 2021. She became one of the wealthiest Black women and one of the most valuable brands in the world; on Forbes' 2011 list of billionaires, she is the only female Black billionaire. She was also added to Forbes' list of the world's wealthiest self-made women.
Winfrey was born into poverty to a poor teen mother in rural Mississippi and later moved to inner-city Milwaukee. In her early teens, she was molested, and she became pregnant at the age of 14; her son was born prematurely and died in infancy. After moving in with her father, Vernon Winfrey, a barber in Tennessee, Winfrey landed a job in radio while still in high school. She was a co-anchor for the local evening news at the age of 19. Winfrey's frequently dramatic, spontaneous delivery won her a chance at daytime talk shows, where she launched her own production company and became globally known after raising a third-rated local Chicago talk show to first place.
By the mid-1990s, Winfrey had revamped her show, focusing on literature, personal development, mindfulness, and spirituality. While she has been chastised for pushing controversial self-help theories and taking an emotion-driven approach, she has also been lauded for overcoming hardship to become a benefactor to others. President Barack Obama granted Winfrey the Presidential Medal of Freedom and honorary doctorate degrees from Duke and Harvard in 2013. She founded her own network, the Oprah Winfrey Network, in 2008. (OWN).
Oprah has been nominated for two Academy Awards as of this writing: one for Best Supporting Actress for "The Color Purple" and another for Best Picture for "Selma" as a director. She was awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Academy Award in 2011. Oprah has earned 18 Daytime Emmy Awards (from a total of 26 nominations), one Golden Globe, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award.
In 2011, Winfrey launched her new channel, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. She sold the majority of her Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) stock to Discovery Inc. for over $36 million. According to Bloomberg, the deal raises Discovery's stake in OWN to 95%, but Winfrey will retain her roles as CEO and chief creative officer. Winfrey also runs a magazine and Harpo Productions in addition to her cable channel. She also founded the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa, which is a school for girls. Dr. Phil and Rachael Ray were both produced through her Harpo Productions. She has her own satellite radio channel and has produced Broadway shows. She regularly raises more than $225 million a year as a result of all of this.
The self-made media mogul purchased the 23,000-square-foot Georgian-style home she calls the "Promised Land" for $50 million in 2001. Oprah simply altered the plans to ensure they fit her personality when she bought the house, and she now has peace and quiet to enjoy the home's mountain and ocean views. According to Oprah, the property was found during a photoshoot. Winfrey also has a lovely apartment in Chicago, a large house in New Jersey, a Florida farm, a ski house in Colorado, a house in Douglasville, Georgia, and land on Maui, Hawaii, and Antigua. She does, however, live on "The Promised Land," where she has 14 bathrooms and ten spectacular fireplaces.
Winfrey paid $34 million for a minority stake in Weight Watchers, a publicly-traded company, in 2015. By 2020, the market value of those shares had risen to $430 million. She also is an investor in True Food Kitchen, a restaurant chain founded by author Andrew Weil. In 2018, Winfrey signed a multi-year deal with Apple TV +. On the streaming platform, Winfrey has launched "The Oprah Conversation," "Oprah's Book Club," "Oprah Talks COVID-19," and "SuperSoul Sunday" since 2019.
She recently interviewed the former royal couple, Prince Harry, and his wife Meghan Markle. The interview netted her $7 million and 17 million viewers. It also validated her larger business strategy. She sold the Harry and Meghan interview to CBS’s entertainment division, the crown jewel of ViacomCBS, for a reported $7 million.
SOURCES: Forbes, Yahoo!, Celebrity Networth, Washington Post
This article was updated on March 17, 2021 by Vanessa Shumbanhete
Earnings & Financial Data
|
Date |
Category |
Description |
Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
|
2020 |
Sale of Asset |
Shares of her network, OWN to Discovery Network |
$36,000,000 |
|
2015 |
Royalties |
She bought stake in Weight Watchers |
$43,000,000 |
|
2010 |
Salary |
Income for every season of The Oprah Winfrey Show from 1985 until 2011 |
$315,000,000 |
|
2009 |
Salary |
Annual salary from The Oprah Winfrey Show |
$315,000,000 |
|
2003 |
Asset |
Value of the house she bought at 3330 Radcliffe Avenue, West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
$13,000,000 |
|
2000 |
Asset |
Value of the house she called The Promise Land |
$52,000,000 |
|
1996 |
Salary |
Amount she received for continuing her talk show through the 1999-2000 TV season |
$130,000,000 |
