Queen Of Daytime TV Oprah Winfrey
Steve Jennings/Getty ImagesOprah Winfrey is the only Black female billionaire in America as of 2020.
Oprah Winfrey is the only Black woman among the Black billionaires in the U.S. with an estimated net worth of $2.6 billion. Notably, she also ranked No. 10 on Forbes’ list of America’s richest self-made women in 2019.
Oprah Winfrey famously made her fortune by becoming the most popular daytime talk show host in America, and building a media empire under the OWN network she launched in 2011.
Oprah’s rags-to-riches story began in rural Mississippi where she was born to an unwed teenage mother who worked as a housemaid. She had a rough childhood moving between her grandmother’s farm in Mississippi, her mother’s home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and her father’s place in Nashville, Tennessee. Oprah has also been candid about the sexual abuse she experienced during this time.
Despite her early struggles, Oprah excelled in school and participated in drama club, debate club, and student council. After high school, she secured a full scholarship to Tennessee State University.
Oprah’s gift of the gab and natural charisma landed her a news anchor job at a Nashville television station at age 19. After becoming an anchor in Chicago, she was so popular that she was given her own show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, which turned into a cultural phenomenon. The show ran for 25 years and reached national syndication.
Oprah also parlayed her small screen credentials into an acting career with Oscar-nominated roles in The Color Purple and Selma.
While it’s no surprise that a media icon like Oprah became one of the richest Black women in the world, much of her wealth has to do with the wise investments she’s made over the years, according to Forbes.
Her portfolio is made up of assets from her media empire, which includes the OWN Network, real estate properties, and stocks in brands like Weight Watchers.
Oprah Winfrey’s media empire and savvy business acumen landed her on the Billionaires List in 2003 and she has been a regular ever since. But what’s the secret sauce behind Oprah’s recipe for success?
“I made a decision that I would no longer be used by television, that I would figure out a way to let television be used by me,” she said during her 2017 commencement speech at Smith College. “To turn it into a platform that could be of service to viewers. And in the moment of that decision, my life changed.”
