OPRAH WINFREY
It’s been said she holds so much influence she can
sway elections, damage industries and turn obscure
books into bestsellers. How did she get to this point?“Passion is energy. Feel the
power that comes from
focusing on what excites you.”LIMITLESS
POWER136 | theceomagazine.comCAREER IN BRIEF
1971
Oprah lands her first job while still at school when
WVOL hires her to read the news part-time. She also
wins the Miss Black Tennessee Beauty Pageant.1983
After working as a TV news anchor, Oprah gets her
big break when she moves to Chicago. Using her
trademark charm, empathy and humility, she knocks
top-rated Phil Donahue off his talk-show perch
with her reinvention of the genre. She negotiates
ownership rights, starts her own production company,
and is a millionaire at 32 when The Oprah Winfrey
Show gets national syndication.1985
Oprah plays Sofia in Steven Spielberg’s The Colour
Purple and receives an Oscar nomination.1995
Her net worth hits US$340 million, making Oprah
the only African American on the Forbes 400 list.1996
‘The Oprah Effect’ is born: book club ‘favourites’
become instant bestsellers. In 1998, Oprah tops
Entertainment Weekly’s list of the 101 most powerful
people. Forbes names her the world’s most powerful
celebrity in 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2013.2007
She endorses Barack Obama, with the Governor of
Illinois calling her “the most instrumental person in
electing Barack Obama president”.2017
Although her talk show last aired in 2011, Oprah
continues to act, produce and publish, last year
reprising her role as a journalist as specialist
contributor on 60 Minutes. Her current net worth
is estimated at US$3 billion.“One of the hardest things in life to
learn is which bridges to cross and
which bridges to burn.”A TOUGH
CHILDHOOD“Do the one thing you think you
cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do
better the second time. The only
people who never tumble are those
who never mount the high wire.”PUSH YOUR
BOUNDARIES“The reason I’ve been able
to be so financially successful
is my focus has never, ever for
one minute been money.”SUCCESS IS
THE REWARDThe last word