For years, the battle of World’s Richest Black Woman has been between film and TV executive Oprah Winfrey and Nigerian billionaire oil magnate, Folorunsho Alakija. As we begin 2020, Oprah Winfrey holds the crown with a net worth of $2.7 billion, beating out Isabel Dos Santos at $2 billion and Folorunsho Alakija at $1 billion.
Oprah has landed in several Forbes lists over the years including Forbes 2019 Power Women list (#20), 2019’s America’s Self-Made Women list (#10), and 2010’s Powerful People (#64).
Oprah’s work in television attributes to much of her multi-billion dollar net worth. Her syndicated talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, which was the highest-rated television program of its kind in history, ran for 25 years. Now, as chairwoman and CEO of Harpo Productions and chairwoman, CEO and CCO of the Oprah Winfrey Network, Oprah is responsible for producing several television shows and movies.
In June 2018, Oprah and Apple announced a multi-year partnership in which she would produce original programming exclusively for Apple’s new streaming service, Apple TV+. One of the shows she brought to the platform includes interviews with the authors of her book club selections. The first selection was “The Water Dancer” by Ta-Nehisi Coates.
