The life and career of Oprah Winfrey, who was nominated for an Oscar and lives in a $52 million estate nicknamed 'The Promised Land'
Oprah Winfrey, 64 years old, is a media mogul, a celebrated actress, and a philanthropist. Forbes estimates that her net worth is about $2.9 billion.
Winfrey was also ranked sixth on Forbes' list of America's richest self-made women, and is the only African-American woman on Forbes' 2018 billionaire list.
Source: Forbes, Forbes, Business Insider
Winfrey endured a turbulent childhood. She spent her early years on her grandmother's farm, in Kosciusko, Mississippi. At age six, she went to live with her mother in Milwaukee; while her mother was away at work, Winfrey was molested multiple times by people including relatives.
Source: Academy of Achievement
As a teenager, Winfrey moved in with her father, Vernon Winfrey, who imposed strict discipline. Winfrey became an honor student.
Source: Academy of Achievement
Winfrey's first media job was at a radio station for the African American community in Nashville, making her the first black female news anchor in the city.
Source: Business Insider
She dropped out of college at Tennessee State University to work at a local television station, then moved to Baltimore to co-host her first talk show, "People are Talking." During that time, Winfrey has said, she was sexually harassed, and was fired as co-anchor after just 7.5 months.
Source: Academy of Achievement, Daily Worth
Winfrey was instead placed on a local talk show, interviewing celebrities. "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 "The Oprah Winfrey Show." "The moment I did that talk-show I felt like, 'Oh, I can be myself' and … that was the beginning of fulfilling the calling."
Source: CNBC, Oprah Winfrey Network
Her next gig was in Chicago, where she revamped a morning show that was struggling. In September 1985, the program was renamed "The Oprah Winfrey Show."
Source: Academy of Achievement
Winfrey's acting career began in 1985, when she appeared in "The Color Purple." She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Source: IMDB
By the time Winfrey was 32, "The Oprah Winfrey Show" was syndicated on national television.
Source: Business Insider
In 1988, Oprah launched her own production company, Harpo Productions. ("Harpo" is "Oprah" spelled backwards.) She also negotiated ownership of "The Oprah Winfrey Show," which raked in $300 million a year at its peak.
Source: The Telegraph, Business Insider
In the mid-90s, Winfrey shifted her focus on "The Oprah Winfrey Show." Every episode had to be what she considered a "force for good," highlighting topics like spirituality and raising kids. At first, ratings dipped, but this was Winfrey's way of differentiating herself from all the other talk shows that had sprouted up. "You can only run your own race," she said on the "Making Oprah" podcast.
Source: Business Insider, WBEZ
Winfrey went on to launch her own publication, The Oprah Magazine, and partnered with Discovery Communications to start a cable channel, The Oprah Winfrey Network.
Source: Business Insider
Winfrey lives primarily in Montecito, California. She bought the estate, which she calls "The Promised Land" for $52 million in 2001. Winfrey also has homes in other US states, and on the shores of Antigua. And she flies in a $42 million, custom-designed jet.
Source: Business Insider
Through the Angel Network, Winfrey has given millions of dollars to charitable causes, including building schools in rural areas across the globe.
Source: Oprah.com
Many people feel that Barack Obama might not have won the 2008 presidential election without her support.
Source: Vogue
The final broadcast of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" was in 2011. Now, Winfrey is a special contributor to CBS' "60 Minutes."
Source: CBS, Academy of Achievement
In 2015, Winfrey also bought 10% of Weight Watchers for $43 million. Her investment is now worth more than $400 million, according to CNN. She's also on the company's board and appears in commercials. Potentially thanks to Winfrey's involvement, Weight Watchers has reported a boost in subscriber numbers.
Source: CNN
Winfrey shared with Vogue her main takeaway from hosting "The Oprah Winfrey Show": "There's not a human being alive who doesn’t want — in any conversation, encounter, experience with another human being — to feel like they matter. And you can resolve any issue if you could just get to what it is that they want — they want to be heard."
Source: Vogue
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