| Oprah Winfrey, the icon of the Oprah Winfrey show and Oprah magazine, has earned over 1.5 billion over the course of her career, and has been named the richest woman in entertainment by Forbes in the Wealthiest People list. Oprah has surpassed the famous British writer J.K. Rowling with a worth of $1 billion, and all time famous lifestyle show host and media tycoon Martha Stewart worth $638 million.
According to Forbes, the top 20 list was chosen from women in entertainment who earned at least $45 million during their life-time careers.
Previously, Oprah Winfrey was named the most powerful woman in the world by media giants Time.com and CNN. Time repeatedly named Oprah Winfrey one of the 100 most influential people in 2004, 2005 and 2006, and also named Oprah one of the most influential people of 20th century.
The only two people who made all these four lists by Time are Oprah Winfrey and
Bill Gates. Oprah has been named by many as the most influential black woman in America, and senator Barack Obama even said Oprah is America's most powerful woman. Channel VH1 named Winfrey the greatest pop culture icon in 2003, surpassing such icons as Superman and Elvis Presley.
Oprah's comments often caused market swings and drastic price changes, which shows that Winfrey has a wide influence beyond pop-culture.
Oprah Family:
Oprah Winfrey and her partner Stedman Graham have been together for about 20 years. She also has Sophie and Solomon, two of her Cocker spaniels and she also has three retrievers, one of which died. After the death of her first child, Oprah never had any more children. She assumes that girls from “Africa’s Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls” founded by Oprah herself, would become her daughters.
“I never had children and did not think to have. Now I have 152 daughters and 75 more will become my daughters next year. This is some sort of gestation period. I told their grandmothers, mothers, members of their families, (some girls have lost their families), I told them: Your daughters are now my daughters and I promise to care of them. I promise you”. “When I observed Oprah and girls, - her best girlfriend Gayle King said, - I thought that Oprah was meant to be a mother and one way or another it happened”. Newsweek showed the schoolgirl Thelasa Msumbi hugging Oprah and whispering: “We are your daughters now”. Oprah Winfrey plans to take housekeeping lessons at school via satellite and plans to live, after retirement, in a house she is building in the university campus. “I want to be near my girls and to see them”, - told Winfrey.
Best Friends:
Gayle King has been the best girlfriend of Oprah since the age of 20. King was the anchor of the “The Gayle King Show” and presently she is the editor of “O, the Oprah Magazine”. Since 1997, when Oprah and Gayle King acted together in a film, they became the point of constant rumors that they are gay. “I understand why people think that we are gays”, - said Oprah in the August 2006 issue of the magazine, - “no definition exists in our culture for this kind of relationship between women. Therefore, I understand, why people label it – how can you be so close (with someone), without being sexual? People think that I should be ashamed to be gay and not admit to it. Oh, please …” In 1989, Billy Rizzo, an assistant of Oprah was diagnosed with AIDS, which was so often discussed on Oprah’s show. “I love Billy as brother, - she said at that time, - he is a remarkably talented guy and it's painful to see him in such a condition”. Winfrey visited him daily during his last days.
Oprah Winfrey was born in 1954 in Mississippi. She completed Tennessee State University. Her career as a journalist started on radio in Nashville. She worked as a reporter and announcer in the local branch of the company ABC. For seven years she was the anchor of the talk show “People Are Talking”.
In 1986, she debuted in Stephen Spielberg's film “The Color Purple”. For her role in the film, she received “Oscar” & “Golden Globe” nominations. Oprah Winfrey was included in the list of the 25 most influential personalities worldwide in 1996 by “Time” magazine. Oprah Winfrey is engaged in charity works. She owns a company, which makes documentary films devoted to the life of animals.
Six years ago Oprah made a lot of noise through her television program about mad cow disease, promising not to touch any more hamburgers. Texas beef manufacturers immediately sued Oprah, asserting that substantial losses would be incurred after such statements. The case was dismissed.
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Forbes officially announced Oprah Winfrey as the richest woman in entertainment with net worth of $1.5 billion. According to Oprah "Money will not make you happy. Your personality will." This is what she always says to people with wonderful personalities asking for spare change.
