Oprah officially a billionaire
2003-03-01 16:06
New York - She was famous before she became rich, but now Oprah Winfrey has become the first black woman ever to make Forbes magazine's list of global billionaires.
The 49-year-old TV talk-show host has just one billion dollars, according to the magazine out on Friday, which ranked her 427th among the world's richest. Winfrey is one of only 476 people with a net worth of a billion dollars or more, according to Forbes.
The billion-dollar mark did not come easy for Winfrey, who lost money in bad Internet investments in recent years before recouping that and more.
Her television show is seen in some 104 countries and generates an estimated $300 million a year for its distributor, according to some reports.
But that is only a portion of her business empire under her company, Harpo Inc. She also has her own magazine, book club and website.
But she is best known for the 16-year-old "Oprah Winfrey Show," which features famous faces and also allows ordinary Americans to share their extraordinary stories.
Syndicated since 1986, the wildly popular talk show has made Winfrey one of the richest women in America.
She has indicated that she will end her show after the 2005-2006 television season.
Although this is the first time Winfrey has been listed as a billionaire, she is no stranger to Forbes lists. She was number eight on the list of 100 top celebrities in 2002 and number 229 on the list of the 400 richest Americans in 2002.
Among the "self-made" billionaires on the list, Winfrey worked as a television news reporter and acted in the film "The Color Purple" before her syndicated talk show was launched.
The global club of billionaires shrank by 21 over the past year amid slumping stock markets, with Microsoft's Bill Gates still on top with some 40.7 billion dollars.
The top women on the list were Wal-Mart heirs Alice and Helen Walton, each worth an estimated 16.5 billion dollars, and L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, worth 14.5 billion. - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA