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How Oprah Winfrey earned her billions

'04.04.2018'

ForumDaily Woman

Oprah Winfrey is the only billionaire African-American in the list of the richest people in America. We tell how she earned them.

Фото: Depositphotos

Difficult teenager

Oprah's story is the story of the “mean girl” who rose from the very bottom of society to the heights of fame and financial success. Her mother, 18-year-old Vernita, had an affair with conscript Vernon Winfrey and accidentally became pregnant. On January 26, 1954, she gave birth to an illegitimate child. Details.

The parents wanted to give the girl the name Orpa, common in the United States, - that was the name of the daughter-in-law of the biblical heroine Ruth. However, the illiterate midwife, making an entry in the journal, mixed up two letters and the newborn became Oprah.

Unwanted child Vernita left her mother, who lived on a small farm in Mississippi. Grandmother, a strong-willed and strict woman, raised her granddaughter in Puritan rules. At the age of three, the girl mastered the certificate, and two years later, when she got into kindergarten, she wrote a letter to the school teacher asking her to take her to class. The teacher did not remain indifferent, and the five-year-old girl became a schoolgirl.

Within a year, the talented first-grader completed a three-year course and decided to become a preacher. With no audience, she made fiery speeches on the farm — in front of goats and cows. Once on Easter, she spoke to the parishioners of the local church, making them tears of affection.

The girl's life changed dramatically when her mother decided to take the eldest daughter to her. Vernita lived in Milwaukee, in the Negro ghetto, along with another civil husband and two younger children. There, Oprah was faced with a completely wild morals, because it was a real bottom. At nine, the girl was raped by a 19-year-old cousin. And then there were other relatives who were forced to have sex and threatened with reprisal if she did not keep her tongue.

It was unbearable to endure this bullying. 13-year-old Oprah, having stolen money from her mother, fled wherever she looked. However, the money soon ran out, and the fugitive, having no other way out, turned to the priest for help. He did it simply - he returned the girl to her mother. Enraged Vernita gave her daughter to a juvenile colony. At the age of 14, Oprah gave birth to a premature baby who soon died. Then she was even expelled from the colony.

One can imagine what fate awaited a teenager with a similar biography. Fortunately, the "mean girl" was taken to his father, who worked as a hairdresser in Nashville. In fact, he saved her life. Every day, Vernon forced his daughter to learn five new words to expand her vocabulary. Oprah signed up for an adult library. Once every two weeks, she and her father chose a new book, and then wrote an essay on it. “Books,” she later recalled, “showed me that there are different possibilities in life… and that I could not only strive, but also achieve this. Reading gave me hope. "

Vernon arranged for the girl to be "the eldest where they will be sent" to the warehouse, and then as a salesman in his hairdresser. It was then that Oprah began to strive for success, claiming that one day she would definitely become rich.

Фото: Depositphotos

Shownowman

Winfrey gradually began to return to normal life. Two years later, she won the club's oratory tournament. Elks club, becoming eligible to study at the university of their state. Oprah was soon named Outstanding American Teenager and, as part of the Nashville youth delegation, visited the White House to meet with President Richard Nixon.

Then she took her first steps in the media business. In 1971, 17-year-old Oprah was crowned Miss Fire Prevention by radio station WVOL for her participation in programs that called to keep an eye on gas stoves and not let children play with fire. “Miss” started taking part - and winning! - in various youth competitions. As a result, she, 19, was offered to conduct news on the local TV channel ABC and the fee was 15 thousand dollars a year. The girl agreed, leaving the university without receiving a higher education diploma.

In 1976, ABC executives dispatched a lively employee to their Baltimore branch to host an evening news program. However, this appointment did not bring success. First, Oprah did not meet the requirements of the local studio, according to which the presenter must be tough and detached from emotions. And 22-year-old Miss Winfrey could cry when reporting a disaster that led to casualties. In addition, the makeup artists decided that the newcomer had too coarse hair. Incorrectly selected dyes led to the fact that the unlucky presenter completely went bald.

In short, when the channel's management asked her to take up another project and host the morning talk show "Baltimore Says and Shows," Oprah happily agreed. Now her earnings were 200 thousand dollars a year.

The talk show was broadcast live for seven years, and the rating of this program reached an incredible mark, ahead of even the famous "The Phil Donahue Show".

However, information leaked to the press that Oprah attempted suicide because of the refusal of her boyfriend to marry her, forced the ABC management to terminate the contract with the TV presenter.

This story, of course, shook the credibility of Winfrey, who seemed to the audience an extremely successful woman. Therefore, when she was invited to Chicago to raise the rating of the Chicago Midday News program, it was not without difficulty that she managed to defend the previous level of wages - 200 thousand dollars a year. However, Oprah coped with the task brilliantly: the rating of the program rose so much that Phil Donahue, who worked in Chicago, was forced to urgently move to New York.

Donahue's "Flight" became a sensation. Oprah became interested in Hollywood. In 1985, the TV presenter starred in the film "The Crimson Banner" by Quincy Jones. Her supporting role was marked with two top cinematic awards - Oscar and Golden Globe. This was already a worldwide success, which, in turn, increased the popularity of her television program, the rights to broadcast which were purchased by many countries in Europe and Asia.

Already in 1986, 32-year-old Oprah Winfrey earned her first million. She disposed of them just like a woman: she bought an apartment for herself as a birthday present for 800 thousand dollars.

Фото: Depositphotos

Businesswoman

Proven to be the highest paid performer in show business, Oprah did not rest on her laurels. In October 1988, the TV presenter registered the Harpo Entertainment Group. After becoming a businesswoman, she began by buying a 20 m9 film studio in Chicago for $ 2 million. On its own production base, she filmed all editions of her super-popular show, covering an unprecedented number of markets in America - 198 (this is 99% of those in the United States) and 64 foreign markets, including Japan, Norway, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand and the Netherlands.

In addition to the TV show, which is the main product and the main brand of the company, Harpo Entertainment Group produces documentaries and sells them for television broadcasting.

Oprah, as the head of the company, has a peculiar style of work. She, for example, does not tolerate any business plans. “I'm an instinctive player, an instinctive actress and I use my instinct to take the right direction in business,” she explains. However, her intuition is really wonderful, because in just five years of the company's existence, Oprah's personal income, according to the magazine Forbes (September 1993 of the year), amounted to 98 million (for comparison: the income of the king of cinema Steven Spielberg in the same years did not exceed 72 million dollars).

As the owner of Harpo Entertainment Group, she recognizes and admits only one advisor, her life lawyer and partner, Jeffrey Jacobs.

In an interview, he said: “Oprah owns her own show and manages her own money. There are no boards of directors, no committees. Any important decision, in the end, is made only by her. "

Jacobs claims that Winfrey still signs each check herself and performs all the routine duties of any other employee of a large corporation.

Oprah became the first African American woman to have her own entertainment industry. She also became the third woman in the world, after Mary Pickford and Lucy Ball, to own her own studio and host her own show. The entrepreneur limited the staff of the company to the limit - she has only 86 employees under her supervision.

In 2000, she created a magazine O, The Oprah Magazine, which became one of the most successful publications in the history of periodicals - its circulation exceeded 2 million copies. In addition, she opened the Eccentric restaurant in Chicago, bought a cable TV channel, and also invested in real estate. She now owns a seaside estate in Santa Barbara worth about 50 million, a ranch in Colorado, bought for 4,3 million, a Challenger 601-ZA jet with an operating budget of $ 1,4 million a year, four cottages and a mansion in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and a farm in Indiana.

However, the foundation of her success as an entrepreneur is clearly The Oprah Winfrey Show. It has been one of the most popular in the United States for 16 years. The TV presenter gathers 50 million TV viewers every week. She earns about $ 300 million a year by talking live. Oprah Winfrey became the first black woman billionaire in history.

Фото: Depositphotos

Rich and intelligent

Forbes has been monitoring Winfrey since 1995, when she entered the list of the richest Americans Forbes400 with a capital of $ 340 million. Today, her condition estimated in $ 2,8 billion, which ensures her 660-place in the world list of billionaires. In addition, at the end of 2017, Oprah ranked 11 among the most successful women billionaires in the world who “made themselves” - that in English is indicated by the expression self-made, writes Forbes. Here is a list of its assets.

  • Weight Watchers

In October, 2015, Winfrey acquired the 10% stake in the company that developed the weight correction program. The cost of one paper was then $ 6,79 per share, Oprah paid $ 43 million for its package. It looks like she chose the right moment to buy. As of 9 in January of 2018, the stock price has increased more than 8 times since the acquisition and Winfrey’s package now costs $ 365 million.

  • Real estate

Winfrey's 42 acre estate (17 hectares), located in Montecito south of Santa Barbara, is estimated at $ 95 million. Other real estate in Santa Barbara, Maui, Colorado and Nashville costs at least $ 117 million in aggregate. The total value of Oprah real estate is $ 210 million.

  • OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network

In 2011, Oprah bid farewell to her day show and founded the cable channel OWN, along with Discovery Communications. December 2017 of the year Discovery I purchased the share of 24,5% in OWN from Oprah, leaving her 25,5%. At the rate Forbes, Oprah’s share of the OWN is $ 75 million

  • Reinvesting 25 Profit for the Oprah Show

F estimatedorbs, the profits earned over 25’s years of success with The Oprah Show, plus the profits from films such as “Flowers of Purple Fields”, “Favorite” and “Selma” (co-produced by her company Harpo Productions), is almost $ 2 billion, if you deduct taxes and presume that the funds were reinvested in a timely manner. Herself Harpo estimated at $ 150 million

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