OPRAH WINFREY

Born ‘Orpah’ Gail Winfrey, Oprah is an American entrepreneur and philanthropist known for
her multi award winning show ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ (1986-2011). She is the twentieth
century’s richest African American with a net worth of 2.7 billion dollars.

This self-made billionaire was born on 29th January 1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi. Oprah
battled a despondent childhood that included poverty, sexual abuse, unwanted pregnancy and
the death of the child. At 13 when she finally left home to stay with her father in Nashville
who provided her with a secure life and education. Oprah flourished and public speaking and
oratory skills were her most prominent skills. After winning the beauty pageant Miss Black
Tennessee at 17, Oprah caught the attention of WVOL, a radio station in Nashville, who
offered her a job. During this time she won a full scholarship to Tennessee State University
where she graduated majoring in Performing Arts and Speech Communications.

Oprah landed a job as an anchor at a local TV station. This led to another job in Baltimore
where she was co-anchor at WJZ-TV News. Her first talk show ‘People Are Talking’ became
quite popular. Her outgoing and ardent personality started grabbing the public’s attention.
After devoting seven years to make this show successful, she was offered to host a morning
show in the Windy City, Chicago. In no time ‘AM Chicago’ was one of the most acclaimed
TV shows. Renamed in September 1985 as ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ the program started
to broadcast on a national level. In the next three years it won several awards including three
Daytime Emmy Awards in 1987 and another Emmy the next year. The show targeted various
issues such as women empowerment and significance and human rights, which appealed to
people of all ethnicities, genders and soon the whole of America was in love with this
talented and magnetic personality who ran the show brilliantly.

Her passion for producing high standard entertainment programs encouraged her to form her
own production company that she called ‘Harpo’ (which was her name spelled backwards).
Harpo Productions Inc. gained the ownership and production rights to the Oprah Winfrey
Show from 1998 onwards. The company produced other miniseries including ‘The Women
of Brewster Place’ and movies like ‘There Are No Children Here’ (1993) and ‘Before
Women Had Wings’ (1997). Oprah made her film debut in the 1985 film ‘The Color Purple’.
Her movies also include ‘Charlotte’s Web’, ‘Bee movie’ and ‘The Princess and the Frog’.

Oprah revolutionized the ‘trash TV’ format to a more subtle, kinder and truly informative
style and by the end of the 90’s completely reformed the way television was run. She co-
founded a successful cable station called ‘Oxygen’ and changed the Discovery Health
Channel to OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network that launched in January 2011. Oprah has
authored five books and publishes a magazine ‘O, The Oprah Magazine’. Her website
Oprah.com has an average of 70 million views and 6 million users every month. She signed a
55 million dollars contract with XM Satellite Radio to launch a new channel named ‘Oprah
Radio’.

Rightfully called the ‘world’s most powerful woman’ by Time.com and CNN, Oprah has
influenced the lives of millions of people by building a consummate association with them.
Her endeavors as a media leader and philanthropist have made her as one of the most admired
people of our time.

The 'Talk Show' queen, Oprah, was born out

of wedlock to Vernon Winfrey and Vernita Lee
on January 29, 1954, in Kosciusko
(Mississippi, US). Named Orpah Gail Winfrey,
she became Oprah after Orpah was misspelt
in her school records. Her parents separated
when she was very young. Following this, she
was sent to live with her grandmother, Hattie
Mae Lee (Hattie), on a small farm. Hattie laid
the foundation of Oprah's career when she
taught her to read the Bible.

At the age of three, Oprah spent hours

reading Bible stories to the animals on the
farm. Hattie also taught her many lessons
about God and faith. These lessons inspired
her (at that tender age itself) to become
strong and help people in need...

The Oprah/Harpo Empire

During the 1990s, Oprah expanded her business into many areas besides the television. She entered
various fields such as publishing, music, film, heath and fitness and education. In 1994, Oprah's
initiatives for the protection of children against abuse were rewarded when the then US President, Bill
Clinton signed the 'Oprah Bill,' a new law designed to protect children against abuse.

Oprah - The Entreprenuer

Despite the fact that she was the owner of a

huge business empire, Orpah reportedly did
not even know how to read a balance sheet
and did not follow any corporate models. She
had declined offers from many companies
such as AT&T, Intel and Ralph Lauren to be
on their boards, stating that 'she did not
understand what she would do on their
boards.' Oprah was once reported to have
hoarded $50 million in cash, which she called
her personal 'bag-lady fund,' as she was
afraid of investing in the stock market, being
totally ignorant about it.

Interestingly, she did not like being referred to as a businesswoman. Commenting on her 'ignorance'of
doing business the 'usual'way, she said, “If I called a strategic-planning meeting, there would be dead
silence, and then people would fall out of their chairs laughing.”

According to analysts, Oprah was not in the 'business of business,'she was in the 'business of
soothing souls.'The kind of intimacy Oprah enjoyed with her audiences was something that reportedly
no other talk show host had ever achieved. Oprah's message, 'You are responsible for your own
life,'acted as her unique selling proposition (USP) just like 'convenience'and 'everyday low prices'(the
USPs) of McDonald's and Wal-Mart, respectively...