Oprah Winfrey
Born to a teen mother in rural Mississippi, 65-year-old Opray Winfrey overcame a tough childhood to become a self-made billionaire with a net worth of $2.7 billion USD.
When Oprah was in her 20s she had a job as a news anchor, but, she was fired for being too emotional about the stories she was reporting. Eventually, she created one of the most popular talk-shows known today as The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1986.
Oprah Winfrey has transitioned her hit talk show, which ran for 25 years, into a media and business empire. Winfrey parlayed her role as a news anchor into a 25-year talk show gig. Reinvested, the profits from her show add up to an estimated $2 billion, according to Forbes.
In 2011, Winfrey launched cable channel OWN. Her 25.5% of the network is worth about $75 million. The ‘Oprah effect’ has spread to Weight Watchers: she bought a 10% stake in 2015 (since lowered to 8%) and acts as a brand ambassador.
In June 2018, she signed a deal with Apple’s streaming service to create original content that will include a book club, documentaries and TV series.
