How Oprah Winfrey Got Rich | How They Got Rich - YouTube

Oprah Winfrey … the richest self-made woman in America and the famous host of the Oprah

Winfrey Show … How did Oprah Winfrey get rich? We’ll answer that in today’s episode

My name is Dan Henry and when I was 16 years old I decided I wanted to be rich. So I studied

as many wealthy entrepreneurs as I could and used what I learned to create my own successful

business. The purpose of this channel is to show my research with the world and show you

How They Got Rich.

Without a doubt, one of the most influential women of the last fifty years, Oprah Winfrey

has evolved into a true American icon thanks to 25 years of “The Oprah Winfrey Show,”

decades in movies, and being an example to philanthropists worldwide. Who could have

imagined in 1976 that a young, black female “weekend features” television reporter

would go on to amass a net worth just south of $3 billion?

The road to riches was paved with hardship. ORPAH Gail Winfrey was born to a single, teenage

mother in rural Mississippi in 1954. Shortly after her birth, her name was changed to Oprah

and she was left to be raised by her grandmother.

When she was barely out of diapers, Oprah showed signs of her brilliance. She learned

how to read at two and a half years old and then had her first public speaking debut to

her church congregation.

A couple of years later, she managed to convince the kindergarten teacher that she needed to

go straight to first grade … and then Winfrey skipped second grade and moved straight to

third. Before her seventh birthday, little Oprah Winfrey was going places.

Unfortunately, the next place she would go was to the ghettos of Milwaulkee with her

mother. By the time she was 12, her mom sent her to live with her dad Vernon in Nashville,

TN, where she would discover her innate love to talk for a living.

Once again, her mother swooped in and took Oprah from her comfortable life … only to

turn around and send her back to her father in Tennessee. During all of this bouncing

back and forth, her young body became a haven for sexual abuse. Eventually, she would find

herself pregnant by one of those abusers, endure pregnancy, birth and the death of her

first and only child.

Winfrey would tell you that she owes her life to her father. To say that Vernon was strict

is a bit of an understatement. The incredible structure he maintained for his daughter required

weekly book reports and daily vocabulary requirements.

Oprah excelled in her studies, joined the drama club, debate club, and student council.

She was awarded a full scholarship to Tennessee State University following an Elks Club speaking

contest. The very next year, she paid a visit to the White House for its Conference on Youth.

The stage has never been a stranger to Oprah. While attending TSU, she became Miss Black

Nashville and Miss Tennessee. As a sophomore, each evening you could find her on WTVF-TV,

as Nashville's first African American female co-anchor of the evening news. She was nineteen.

Her prowess as a co-anchor soon led to a new role on another morning talk show, “People

Are Talking.” The show that became hugely popular and garnered quite the following in

Nashville. Winfrey’s intimate, conversational style, and her casual way lent itself to a

more open and insightful experience for her, her guests, and her viewers. As the ratings

climbed over the next three years, Oprah began to receive some well-earned recognition.

In the mid 1980s, Oprah was offered, and accepted, a spot as the host of the morning talk show

“AM Chicago.” She headed north and found herself at the top of the ratings list within

the year. Encouraged by her amazing success, she took the suggestion from friends to license

her own television show.

So at 32, Oprah Winfrey became the first black, nationally syndicated television host.

Soon after, Quincy Jones took notice of her presence on camera and cast her in a role

that would once again change her life. That gripping portrayal of Sofia in “The Color

Purple” won her a nomination for “Best Supporting Actress” and inspired Oprah to

start her own production company, Harpo, Inc. Her company would be responsible for 12 television

shows, 6 feature films, and 7 telefilms.

By the 1990s, The Oprah Winfrey Show had become a national hit. Winfrey made a conscious decision

to favor the relevant, rather than the seemingly sensational. Her shows began to deal with

hot-button issues, like racism, child abuse, and gender equality. Within a few years, viewership

was at an all-time high, the show had won several Emmys, and Winfrey had amassed a fortune

of over $300 million.

In 1996, Winfrey put those book report days to good use and made it her mission “to

get the country reading.” So she started Oprah’s Book Club. That decision changed

the face of marketing for books. One word from Oprah and people were flocking to the

stores for her title suggestions. She single-handedly turned unheard of books into best sellers.

Oprah’s success continued as she expanded her TV empire, co-produced a Broadway musical

version of “The Color Purple,” and started a 24-hour radio segment on XM Satellite radio,

as well as her own TV network, OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network). As the 2010 drew to a close,

Winfrey transitioned from her television host role into a new position of service. It was

the first step on her path to become a billionaire.

Oprah Winfrey spent many years on her show helping others share their stories of life’s

woes, its tribulations, its victories.Those years were a precursor to the philanthropic

work she does today. As an outspoken advocate for Black Indigenous People of Color and women’s

and children’s rights, Winfrey has intentions to play a larger, less glamorous role out

of the spotlight and away from corporate America.

Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013 by President Barack Obama, there were

murmurings of an entrance into politics. An especially politically-charged acceptance

speech at the 2018 Golden Globe awards, where she was awarded the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime

Achievement Award, gave further credit to those rumors. To date, no hat of Oprah’s

has hit the ring.

We may never know her political intentions ... But, we do know that Oprah Winfrey listened

to life stories, and had personally lived many of those same stories herself, so she

was finely attuned with the everyday struggles of the “man on the street.”

And while Oprah saw herself as one of the people, she was far from ordinary. She made

a career out of crafting her image in the public eye. It’s something she did with

purpose and consistency. If Oprah wants the public to know something about her life, she

controls the narrative. It’s that impeccable control that helped her gain incredible wealth.

Winfrey went from literal, dirt-poor beginnings, to millionaire status at 32, to a networth

of 800 million in 2000 and eventually being thought of as the richest African American

of the 20th century. In fact, her business acumen is so incredible that the University

of Illinois once had a course titled "History 298: Oprah Winfrey, the Tycoon."

Our life’s direction turns on single, simple decisions. Oprah Winfrey’s decision to pivot

from sensationalism to positivity worked well for her, professionally and, in turn, financially.

The “richest self-made woman in America” is not too heavy a crown to wear.

Oprah Gail Winfrey is quite literally the embodiment of a rags to riches story. As a

child, her dresses were made from actual potato sacks, yet she never used poverty as an excuse.

Instead, she let it fuel the fire within her to succeed. She would use that success as

a platform for giving to others and giving their stories a voice.

Oprah had a dream as a young girl to be rich and famous … and she is living it out. She

says, “The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams.”

Hey Dan Henry here and I hope you enjoyed this episode of “How They Got Rich”. I

created this channel because these men and women inspired me to quit my job years ago

as a pizza boy and pursue entrepreneurship which eventually led me to become a multimillionaire.

If you would like to know more about that you can follow me on my main youtube channel:

youtube.com/danhenry.

But before you go I would like to remind you why the people on this channel are successful

as well as myself. It’s because they have mastered 3 main areas of their lives: Business,

Productivity, and Mindset. And that is why I have made it my life’s work to help others

in those 3 key areas. So here are three ways I can help you right now.

If you own a business and are looking to grow it you can head over to getclients.com and

learn how we built a $20 million business as well as learn how these strategies can

apply to your business. You’ll find a collection of free trainings, podcasts and blog posts

on that website to help you grow your business. As well you can grab a free copy of my book,

“Digital Millionaire Secrets”. Which is a Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-seller.

You can find that on getclients.com

Number 2. You can head over to PlanTomorrow.com and check out the Plan Tomorrow Daily Planner.

This is a planner I personally designed to make myself more productive and get things

done. Because the truth is if you want to do big things you have to get things done.

And I know this planner will help change your life like it has changed mine. And for a limited

time it also comes with a free productivity class taught by me. So head over there right

now and grab yourself a copy.

And finally number 3, if you’re struggling with mindset, confidence, motivation, imposter

syndrome, or you’re just looking to develop a rock solid mindset so you can achieve more

in life then I want you to head over to HowToThink.com where we have daily mindset mentoring on how

to achieve anything in life by changing the way you think.

So grab a copy of your Plan Tomorrow Daily Planner now. Also, don’t forget to subscribe

to the channel and I’ll see you in the next episode.