Oprah Unbound
After 25 years, Chicago’s Media Queen builds a bigger business and charitable empire, dabbles in politics, and strikes out for the West. Can $2.7 billion buy happiness?
(page 1 of 5)
RELATED ITEMS THE WAY IT WAS >> THEN & NOW >> THE WINNER >> STANDING O >> |
Oprah Winfrey says her favorite room in her California home is the library, and that makes sense. After all, as the Queen of Media says, she wouldn’t be the person she is today if she hadn’t been able to read books while growing up in Mississippi and Tennessee. Books, she frequently notes, opened the world to her. This cozy library is in her 23,000-square-foot home in Montecito, a posh community near Santa Barbara and her primary residence when she is not in Chicago taping The Oprah Winfrey Show. The walls in the library are celadon green, the better to showcase the shelves of red leather–bound books: an eclectic but thoughtful collection that covers art, fashion, inspiration, and literary works by African American writers.
With its cream-colored sofas (on which Winfrey’s dogs are welcome) and its decorative painted tables, the house seems casual and airy, as seen on TV and in Winfrey’s home-design magazine. Yet, in a story Winfrey likes to tell, she says that she had lived in her Montecito house for five months before she wondered if there was a television set on the premises, tucked in somewhere by her interior designer. Even then, she looked for one only when her longtime companion, Stedman Graham, was heading out to a friend’s house to watch a football game. They found one set, hidden away upstairs.
The Queen of Media doesn’t know if there is a television set in her house? “I don’t watch television,” Winfrey, 54, has said for years. Evidently, she means what she says. But through the medium of television, she has built an empire comprising movie and TV production, magazine and book publishing, a satellite radio station, and, later this year, her own cable-TV network. Obviously, her business now transcends television. Her business now is Oprah. Her brand is Oprah.
This January marks the 25th anniversary of Oprah Winfrey’s debut on Chicago television. It has been a fascinating ride—or, as it would be called on The Oprah Winfrey Show, “an amazing journey.” Winfrey has transformed herself into a cultural icon. She has gotten us to form book clubs; she has encouraged us to remember our spirits and to make a mind-body connection. She has urged us to be “our authentic selves.” In 1999, Time named her one of the most important Americans of the 20th century. In 2001, Newsweek called her the Woman of the New Century. The same year, the public’s identification of Winfrey with civic leadership was so complete that New York City’s mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, asked her to host the Prayer for America gathering at Yankee Stadium 12 days after the terrorist attacks. In 2003, she became the first African American female billionaire, and in 2007 she overtook Meg Whitman, the former chief executive officer of eBay, as the richest self-made woman in America. Winfrey is now worth $2.7 billion.
We have had 25 years together—that’s longer than many marriages. Winfrey has changed, and so have we. This anniversary is a good occasion to assess the Age of Oprah: how she started in Chicago and how she has moved away from the city; how she found the promised land; how she became political and the ramifications of her endorsement of Barack Obama for president; and how she plans to extend her brand in the future. (Winfrey declined to be interviewed for this story.) With some repercussions from her political endorsement and the realities of an aging audience, Winfrey is confronting a pivotal and complicated time. But a T-shirt sold in Winfrey’s store, across the street from her Harpo Studios headquarters in Chicago’s West Loop, might hold a key to the future. It reads, Become More of Yourself. And that is what Oprah Winfrey has always done.
* * *
Photograph: Jason Merritt-Film Magic/Staff/Getty Images
Did you like what you read here? Subscribe to Chicago Magazine »
Comments are moderated. We review them in an effort to remove offensive language, commercial messages, and irrelevancies.
Reader Comments:
Well that's 2.7b more for Obama's 2012 campaign. Awesome !
I guess Oprah eats more when shes happy. She is at least 250 lbs..not 200 like she claims and shes been dancing her happy dance since her man Bam Bam bamboozled the American public into voting for him. Well half of the country voted for him so there are still 56 million out there who had the sense to see Oprahs investment for what he really is. Now Oprah can be queen of Washington too- until Obams real agenda starts to show. Then Oprah will be cursed by millions for backing ""THE ONE. "" Keep on eating girl ....Obama likes his women big and bold.
What an awful thing to write. It is unkind and in very poor taste to mock someone's appearance or weight. I'm not completely sold on our President elect either, but this tacky post does very little to persuade the reader to any alternative point of view.
What's so awful about the truth. Ms. O has been thrusting her nonsense down people's throats for decades now. Each year she gets bolder and bolder with saga of dogs and girlfriends and burgers. God alone knows whether all the charity is from her own fat pocket or just some suckers wishing to suck up to her.
She may be rich, but she's still a fat cow. Mooooo!!!
I think a frontal lobe lobodomy on Oprah 'The Pig' Winfrey would make her the happiest person on earth!
You all are just haters. Go get'em O, the World is Yours. Obama in '08 , oh wait we already won. All you A**holes can kick rocks with your sorry worthless lives.
Oprah Winfrey is not a psychiatrist.
She is not a psychologist.
She is not a political analyst or a literary scholar.
She is not a formal educator or a very good actress.
However, in her own mind, she may think she is all of the above.
The reality is, Oprah Winfrey is a talk show host.
And that's all.
It amazes me that the people who are leaving these negative comments apparently has something against Oprah. But could you explain to me WHY did you even bither reading the article? As someone stated here about her frocing something on someone...it cannot be done. If you do not like her show don't watch it. If you do not like her don't read articles about her it is really that simple.
I am always so shocked at people's negative views about Oprah. Simply put, she is a talk show host who early on in her career chose topics that were inspiring and appealed to a wide demographic rather than choosing racy topics like some of her other contemporaries (Donahue, Rickie Lake, Jenny Jones). Over time, people became disgusted with the tawdry shows on Jerry Springer type shows and saw that The Oprah Winfrey show not only entertained people, but often educated, inspired and helped improve people’s lives. Her shows have ranged from light topics such as celebrity interviews to more serious shows about money management (Suze Ormon), self-help (Dr. Phil), Fitness (Bob Greene), about depression, , overcoming illnesses, divorce issues, discipline and many other topics.
What makes her a remarkable person is that she took much of her money and influence to help people. She has established foundations, built schools, helped the homeless, the poor, the sick, etc…..and yes, spent a lot of money on herself. However, she could have simply kept her money to herself like many influential people in this world, but she has chosen to impact the world in a positive way.
She is human and struggles with her weight and relationships. She’s opinionated and has endorsed a candidate…..but as a person who heads her own private media empire, you can express your opinions. She is willing to suffer the consequences of lower ratings. Please give Oprah credit for all the good she's done. Don’t dislike her because of the color of her skin, her weight, her influence or her success. She is a self made entrepreneur that made some smart decisions and maybe was a little lucky. Whatever your opinion, one thing is certain: Oprah is always trying to do good in the world.