Today, a price tag is attached to everything that Oprah Winfrey does or owns. Which isn’t
surprising, given that her net worth is nearing $3 billion. Who wouldn’t want to trade places
with her to live that sweet, sweet billionaire life when everyone knows who you are and all
doors open magically before you? Truth is, Oprah Winfrey’s “origin story”
is probably way darker than you many have guessed. Believe us when we say that The One
And Only Oprah had to claw her way out of poverty and obscurity. Her spending habits
are heavily affected by her painful past, and she is willing to give away as much as
she can to make life easier for others.
Don’t forget to subscribe to RumourJuice! And now, let’s learn more about Oprah Winfrey’s
sacrifices that she made to build her multi-billion business empire and help others.
The 66-year-old must be a living and breathing expert in making the right business investments.
Everyone and their mom is dying to learn the secret behind the unimaginable success of
America’s richest self-made woman. So here’s a question for you: What would you do with
your first $1 million cheque? Take your time and share your plans with us in the comments
section below! Meanwhile, here’s a highly-relatable thing Oprah Winfrey did with the first million
she made. “That is a lot of money,” the former talk-show
host said. “And the first thing I did when I got my cheque for a million dollars was
I took a picture of it.” And then, she splurged on some really good
Ralph Lauren towels. Turns out, Oprah loves big and fluffy towels that you can wrap your
whole body in! Who doesn’t, Oprah, who doesn’t.
Oprah Winfrey became a millionaire at the age of 32 thanks to her legendary eponymous
talk show. By that time, she had already received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting
actress thanks to her performance in Steven Spielberg's drama The Color Purple. The entire
country knew who she was. On the other hand, by the age of 32, Oprah
had learnt everything about life’s hardships and injustice. Today, she is friends with
renowned designers and, no doubt, her closet is chock full of costly customized items.
Growing up, however, Oprah was so poor she had to wear dresses made of potato sacks.
We are pretty sure that Oprah wasn’t popular among her peers. Her grandmother’s dream
was to see her granddaughter hired to be someone’s domestic worker. Winfrey recalls her grandmother’s
words: “I just hope you get some good white folks when you grow up, treat you right, treat
you nice”. As if this wasn’t enough, Winfrey has revealed
that she was molested starting from the age of 9 when her mother went away for work. Some
of the abusers were her relatives. Later in life, Oprah tried talking to family members
about the abuse that she went through but they didn’t believe her.
When she was 13, Oprah had had it, and ran away from home. At 14, she became pregnant.
Her son was born prematurely and died in infancy. Oprah then would bounce between two homes:
that of her mother, and that of the man whom she considers her father.
Despite the difficult family situation, the would-be billionaire and media mogul did well
at school. Thanks to being a diligent and talented student, Oprah was transferred to
a more affluent school. Unfortunately, her dire financial situation transferred together
with her. Oprah recalls how she was constantly reminded of her poverty because she used to
take the bus to school with fellow African-Americans, some of whom were servants of her classmates'
families. To be more like her well-off peers, she began to rebel and steal money from her
mother. Luckily, she didn’t let her bitterness ruin
her life, and focused her attention on her newly found vocation: working on radio
and TV. Oprah’s interest in reading, speaking and
performing on-stage was evident even in her early childhood days. She was taught to read
before the age of three and would interview her corncob doll and the crows on the fence
of her family's property. She joined her high school’s speech team and started winning
oratory contests like it was nothing. When Oprah was in her senior year of high school,
she drew the attention of the local radio station that hired her to read news.
And thus, she started moving up the career ladder in media. Regrettably, the issue of
sexual harassment was as ubiquitous then as it was now, and Oprah fell victim to it. To
add insult to injury, she was fired after less than 8 months of hosting her first talk
show and demoted to lower profile positions. But her genius shined through. She turned
a low-rated half-hour morning talk show, AM Chicago, into the most popular, highest-rated
show. She became recognizable thanks to her emotional delivery, and became influential
enough to be moved to the daytime slot with her very own Oprah Winfrey Show. The show
revolutionized TV. For the first time, guests could talk to the very understanding host
about everything and anything, from abuse, to addiction, body issues or difficulties
of family life. "I felt like this is what I'm supposed to
do. All these years I'd been misplaced in news because I couldn't relate," Winfrey said
on transferring from anchoring to interviewing. "The moment I did that talk-show I felt like,
'Oh, I can be myself' and … that was the beginning of fulfilling the calling."
By the age of 41, Oprah increased her net worth up to $340 million.
Within the following five or so years, the number grew from $340 million to $800 million.
Here’s how a typical summer weekend goes for Queen of All Media, Oprah Winfrey. She
hops into her all-terrain vehicle, one of the two gifted to her by Ralph Lauren, the
world-famous fashion king and her fellow billionaire. As she is getting around her $40-million 163-acre
property to check the various organic produce that she grows, she admires the divine mountain
and ocean views of Maui. When she gets back to her cozy home, a healthy, fulfilling and
visually stunning dinner already awaits, prepared by her personal chef. And if she decides to
check on her mansion in Antigua and Barbuda, all she has to do is board her private jet
worth $42 million.
Want to know the story behind the jet? Even as a wildly popular individual, Oprah used
to fly commercial, just like us mere mortals. But she dropped the habit after a particularly
unpleasant encounter at an airport. A woman approached Oprah and asked her why she wasn’t
hugging people like she did on TV. She demanded a hug. The talk show host indulged, but the
next thing she did was call her lawyer and declared she was getting a private plane.
She did struggle a bit while trying to justify the necessity of owning such this luxury item…
but then just went for it.
Oprah rightfully wears the title of the richest African-American of the 20th century. Consider
this: The University of Illinois created a history course titled “Oprah Winfrey, the
Tycoon". Which is a solid enough proof of the importance of Oprah’s empire and her
status as a historical figure. By 2008, Winfrey’s annual income increased
to $275 million. Her name is itself a brand. After 25 very
successful years on air, The Oprah Winfrey Show isn’t producing new episodes anymore,
but its spiritual successor is Oprah’s own cable channel, entitled, fittingly, OWN - or,
The Oprah Winfrey Network. Winfrey owns about 25% of the channel, which is worth an estimated
$75 million. She made the decision to end her Oprah Winfrey
Show nine years ago, but she remains as influential and hard-working as ever.
At the age of 66, Oprah is worth $2.8 million, according to Forbes.
Oprah has launched “O, The Oprah Magazine,” and delved into the wellness business. In
2015, she bought 8% of WW (known formerly as Weight Watchers) for $43 million. According
to CNN, the investment is now worth over $400 million! A great, mutually beneficial financial
decision: since Oprah became involved in the business, Weight Watchers have been reporting
a boost in subscriber numbers. Winfrey owns a number of properties around
the world (remember the Maui estate?), collectively worth over $100 million. Her California home
cost her $52 million; the Colorado home $14 million; Washington state home $8.3 million;
and the Montecito horse farm estate $29 million.
As a person who had to overcome so many obstacles in life, Oprah knows how important it is to
give back and support those close to you. She has famously taken her staff and employees,
together with their family members, to cruises and vacations. That’s over a thousand people!
But Oprah is happy to spend millions of dollars if this means her helpers are happy.
North America’s first black multi-billionaire is one of the greatest philanthropists in
American history. By 2012, she had donated close to $400 million to educational causes
and given over 400 scholarships. Oprah raised over $11 million and donated $10 million to
help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Many new houses were built and made available to
the affected families thanks to her efforts. Winfrey personally participated in establishing
the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in one of the South African provinces. The
school opened in 2007 and serves as a home for up to 450 students. Some critics questioned
the school’s luxurious surroundings, asking if the $40 million invested by Oprah could
have been spent to benefit a greater number of students. The media tycoon dismissed these
accusations: "If you are surrounded by beautiful things
and wonderful teachers who inspire you, that beauty brings out the beauty in you."
One of the best feelings in life, Oprah says, is being in charge of your life, to be a person
who listens to their heart and not to everybody else's ideas about what they should do or
who they should be. “You get in life what you have the courage
to ask for,” Oprah Winfrey once said. The Queen of All Media was, of course, speaking
from experience.
And what’s your favourite Oprah story or lesson? Do share in the comments section below,
and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel!