Oprah Winfrey: Net Worth, Biography

What is Oprah Winfrey's Net Worth? 

Oprah Winfrey is an American media mogul and author. Popular for her iconic show, The Oprah Winfrey Show which ended in 2011, Oprah well-dominated her industry. She made multiple achievements and is still relevant as an influencer in the United States, to date. Winfrey’s net worth currently stands at $2.8 billion (now worth $3.5 billion as of 2022), making her one of the rich and influential Black women in the United States. In the course of the years, Winfrey has had to deal with discrimination, poverty, and abuse issues; notwithstanding, she stands strong.

Early Life and Education

Orpah Gail Winfrey was born on January 29 in Kosciusko, Mississippi. Her mother, Vernita Lee was an unmarried teenage maid, and her biological father, Vernon Winfrey was in the Armed Forces as of the time of Oprah’s birth. She was given the name “Orpah” at birth, a name with a Biblical reference in the book of Ruth. However, due to the mispronunciation of the name by many people, the name “Oprah” stuck with her.

Being born to an unmarried teenage housemaid, with no father figure active in her life, Winfrey and her mother moved in with her grandmother. The family lived in abject poverty barely having what to eat or wear. Years later, Winfrey would remember how she forcefully had to wear potato sacks to school. At the age of 6, Winfrey and her mother moved to Milwaukee where her mother got another job as a maid. It was during this time that her mother got pregnant again and gave birth to Oprah’s younger sister, Patricia who would later die of cocaine in 2003. Oprah had a half-brother from her father’s side named Jeffery who would also later die in 1989 from AIDS.

At the age of 12, Oprah was sent to live with her father Vernon in Nashville. After putting up with a lot of abuse, Oprah ran away from home at the age of 13. By 14, she also got pregnant with a son but lost the child due to premature birth.

Winfrey had initially started high school at Lincoln High School in Milwaukee and eventually earned a transfer to an affluent suburban school called Nicolet High School after excelling in a special program organized. Her stay there was short-lived, as she had to return to Nashville after some troubles. She continued her high school education at East Nashville High School, where she began to blossom. At age 17, Winfrey won a Miss Black Beauty Tennessee pageant which opened the way for her to work a part-time job at WVOL, a local black radio station, where she worked as a news anchor.

In spite of her challenging background, Winfrey was a bright student. After graduating from high school, she got a scholarship to Tennessee State University to study communication. A year later, she left school to pursue a full-time career in media, at age 19.

Career

In the early 1970s, Winfrey got her first television job at WLAC-TV (now WTVF) in Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 19. By 1976, she transferred to WJZ-TV, an affiliate of ABC in Baltimore, Maryland. Winfrey’s goal was to report the news, however, she failed to maintain the objectivity needed to report the news. With that, she switched to something more conducive, a morning talk show called People Are Talking. The show first aired in 1977 with Winfrey as the host. Her free-spirit and improvisational skills helped her connect with her guests, creating a good rapport with them, which in turn allowed them to feel comfortable about sharing their personal stories on air. It was only a matter of time before Winfrey’s show beat Phil Donahue’s program, based on local ratings.

In January 1984, WLS-TV, ABC’s affiliate offered Winfrey a slot for a 30-minute talk show called AM Chicago. Within a one-year span, the show jumped from last place to one of the top-rated shows. In 1986, Roger Ebert, a legendary film critic encouraged Winfrey to license her show through syndication, this would enable her to reach a national audience. Her program People Are Talking was renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show. Winfrey got her license to reach a wider audience, and she became the first African American television host to be nationally syndicated. Her show also expanded from 30 minutes to an hour length. By the close of that decade, Winfrey launched Harpo Inc., a television production company. She became the first black person and the third woman in the US to own and control her own studio.

As Winfrey’s ratings and viewership continued to grow, she shifted focus from focusing on only sensational and relationship related issues to more serious issues like gender and sexual intolerance, child molestation, and racism. By 1995, Winfrey became the richest black woman in entertainment with a net worth of $340 million.

In 1996, Winfrey co-founded her influential Book Club. She also laid the foundation of O, The Oprah Magazine, and co-authored in multiple books. In 1998, Winfrey co-founded Oxygen Media, a programming company focused majorly on women.

Winfrey first attained billionaire status in 1999-00, and she became America’s first black female billionaire. At this time, she was earning $300 million per year producing her own show. She currently stands as the richest self-made woman in America.

Other projects and endorsements

Asides being a media mogul, influencer, and the richest black woman, Oprah is also a board member of the Weight Watchers, a position she has occupied since 2015. As of the time she was brought in to the company, she was awarded $43.5 billion worth of equity which has since grown to be worth $400 million. In 2019, she signed a multi-year deal with tech giant, Apple to produce shows for the company.

Winfrey has also featured in a couple of movies as an actress, including 1985 The Color Purple, 1988’s Beloved, 2013’s The Butler, and 2014’s Selma.

In addition to her acting roles, she has also been nominated for two Academy Awards: best supporting actress for The Color Purple and producer for Best Picture for Selma. In addition, Winfrey has won 18 Daytime Emmy Awards, one Golden Globe, two Primetime Emmys, and one Tony Award.