Here’s How Oprah Winfrey Became A Billionaire. (Photo Credit – Instagram)
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People who are television fans are very familiar with the alleged Queen of All Media, Oprah Winfrey. The media mogul is an inspiration for millions of people. She is widely known for The Oprah Winfrey Show. From working at a grocery store to becoming an illustrated media personality, Oprah has built an empire, and today, we have brought you a detailed story of her vast fortune.
Oprah’s early life
She was born Orpah Gail Winfrey in 1954, but people often mispronounced it and called her Oprah. It eventually stuck, and she became Oprah from Orpah. She was born in the Mississippi to Vernita Lee and Vernon Winfrey, but her parents were never married. Lee was a housemaid, and Oprah spent her first six years in poverty while she was with her maternal grandmother. They were so poor that the media mogul wore dresses made out of potato sacks. She has allegedly also faced sexual abuse at a young age.
Oprah Winfrey’s journey in the media started with her job at WVOL, where she did part-time news. The TV show host won a Miss Black Beauty Tennessee pageant, which led her to get a job at WVOL as a news anchor. Winfrey studied communication at the Tennessee State University and then left school to pursue a career in the media.
Oprah’s earnings-
She started co-hosting People Are Talking in 1978, and soon, she began earning $220,000, which is around $560K today after adjusting for inflation. A few years later, Oprah got her morning talk show in Chicago produced by King World Productions, which also produced Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune. It was a four-year, $1 million contract, which was $250K per year after adjusting to inflation and is about $600K now. TV personality Robert Ebert helped her a lot in her career by providing excellent guidance.
Oprah Winfrey’s iconic show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, started in 1986 and ran for 25 seasons. She won 47 Daytime Emmys and made stars out of Dr Phil McGraw and Dr Oz. Her interview with Hollywood star Tom Cruise is still remembered by many. She reinvested the profits from her show and the films, including The Color Purple, Beloved, and Selma.
She even owns a production company, Harpo Films, and revenue comes in from there. In 2011, she launched a cable channel, OWN. She cracked a great deal as she sold most of her stake in the network to owner Warner Bros. Discovery in exchange for shares in the company in 2020.
Oprah’s endorsements –
Winfrey has been a board member of Weight Watchers since 2015. She had $43.5 million worth of equity at that time, and that stake is now worth over $400 million as per Celebrity Net Worth.
Oprah’s other ventures-
She has co-authored five books and even publishes the magazine O, The Oprah Magazine. It is an American monthly magazine co-founded by Oprah and Hearst Communications. They rebranded the magazine in 2021, now called Oprah Daily.
Oprah’s real estate ventures
As per reports, Winfrey owns hundreds of acres of real estate in the US, and their minimum estimated value is $200 million. She had a mansion in Chicago, where she lived from 1985 to 2015. That property was sold for $4.625 million. One of her most fancy real estate is near Santa Barbara, California. She bought a 23,000-square-foot mansion for $50 million in 2001. In 2016, she purchased a 23-acre farm for $29 million. A few years later, she bought another house worth $6.85 million.
Oprah Winfrey had a 43-acre estate in Washington. She bought it for $8.275 million in 2018 and sold it in 2021 for $14 million. She splurged $14 million for an 8700-square-foot house in Telluride, Colorado. Oprah’s first property purchase was in 2002 in Maui. She has spent around $60 million for 900 acres on the island. She has multiple properties in Hawaii.
Oprah’s net worth-
According to Forbes, Oprah Winfrey has an estimated net worth of $2.8 billion. Oprah, who had a tough childhood of abuse and poverty, is also an ardent philanthropist. The media personality has donated around $425 million over her career, including more than $100 million to the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa.
