Net Worth: $2.7 B As of September 2011

At a Glance
Age: 57
Source: Television, self-made
Residence: Chicago, IL
Country of Citizenship: United States
Hometown: Kosciusko, MS
Education: Bachelor of Arts / Science, Tennessee State University
Marital Status: Single

Oprah Winfrey (born Orpah Gail Winfrey   on January 29, 1954) is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011.  She has been ranked the richest African American of the 20th century, the greatest black philanthropist in American history, and was for a time the world's only black billionaire. She is also, according to some assessments, the most influential woman in the world.

Winfrey was born into poverty in rural Mississippi to a teenage single mother and later raised in an inner-city Milwaukee neighborhood. She experienced considerable hardship during her childhood, claiming to be raped at age nine and becoming pregnant at 14; her son died in infancy. Sent to live with the man she calls her father, a barber in Tennessee, Winfrey landed a job in radio while still in high school and began co-anchoring the local evening news at the age of 19. Her emotional ad-lib delivery eventually got her transferred to the daytime-talk-show arena, and after boosting a third-rated local Chicago talk show to first place, she launched her own production company and became internationally syndicated.

Credited with creating a more intimate confessional form of media communication, she is thought to have popularized and revolutionized the tabloid talk show genre pioneered by Phil Donahue^. which a Yale study claims broke 20th century taboos and allowed LGBT people to enter the mainstream. By the mid 1990s, she had reinvented her show with a focus on literature, self-improvement, and spirituality. Though criticized for unleashing confession culture, promoting controversial self-help ideas, and an emotion-centered approach she is often praised for overcoming adversity to become a benefactor to others. From 2006 to 2008, her support of Barack Obama, by one estimate, delivered over a million votes in the close 2008 Democratic primary race.

Your OWN Show: Oprah's Search for the Next TV Star\

Your OWN Show: Oprah's Search for the Next TV Star is a reality competition show, created by Oprah. The executive producer is Mark Burnett, who has produced many reality competitions, such as The Apprentice, Survivor, and Design Star. The show premiered on January 7, 2011, and is currently airing on the OWN Network. Hosted by Nancy O'Dell and Carson Kressley, it features ten prospective television hosts competing to earn their own television show on the OWN network. Each week, the contestants will compete in a themed-television show challenge, where they are watched and judged by O'Dell, Kressley, and a guest judge and mentor, whose expertise is in the theme that week. After the production and filming, one contestant will be eliminated, until the best host remains. Besides winning their television show, the champion will receive $100,000 and a 2011 Chevrolet Equinox.

Episodes

 Episode 1: "It Takes A Village"

• First Aired: January 7, 2011
• Television show theme: Sex and relationships
• Guest mentor and judge: Dr. Phil
• Summary: The ten contestants arrive at OWN studios, where they are greeted by O'Dell, Kressley, and Oprah herself. The hosts are split into two teams: a women's (Team Vision) and men's (Team Focus). As there are only four men, they choose Alicia to join their team, and even out the numbers. They are informed of their first challenge, to interview people on the street on the topic of sex and relationships, and then discuss the questions brought up with this week's guest mentor, Dr. Phil. As an added twist, the teams are required to interview the opposite sex. Alicia and Elizabeth step up to the challenge of being the executive producers for their teams' segments. When rehearsing with Dr. Phil, both teams have to readjust parts of their segments, but overall Team Focus shows more potential. This proves true when they produce a much better segment than Team Vision. At elimination, Team Focus is announced as the winning team, and Team Vision is asked who is responsible for their loss. All of the women say executive producer Elizabeth is, but Elizabeth chooses Aunt Flora, who she says did nothing. The judges deliberate, mentioning Elizabeth, Kristina, and Leigh as the most responsible for producing the terrible segment. In the end, they choose Elizabeth (who let her team down as executive producer) and Leigh (who was a rude host, cutting Dr. Phil off) as the bottom two. They both must do a short one-on-one interview with Dr. Phil to prove they should stay. Elizabeth delivers with an insightful topic she can relate to (family member with a disability). Leigh does not show improvement in her interview, and once again interrupts Dr. Phil. Leigh becomes the first host sent home.
• Host Eliminated: Leigh Koechner

 Episode 2: "Let the Transformations Begin"

• First Aired: January 14, 2011
• Television show theme: Beauty makeovers
• Guest mentor and judge: Vera Wang
• Host Eliminated: Eric Warren

 Episode 3: "Who Gets the Last Laugh?"

• First Aired: January 21, 2011
• Television show theme: Late-night comedy segment
• Guest mentor and judge: Arsenio Hall
• Host Eliminated: Aunt Flora

Episode 4: "Get the Salmon in the Pan"

• First Aired: January 28, 2011
• Television show theme: Cooking show
• Guest mentor and judge: Curtis Stone
• Host Eliminated (withdrew): Tony Roach

Episode 5: "Do It With Style"

• First Aired: February 4, 2011
• Television show theme: Thirty second commercial for Kohl's & a television interview (with Fuentes)
• Guest mentor and judge: Daisy Fuentes
• Host Eliminated: Elizabeth Espinosa

Episode 6: "Dollars and Sense"

• First Aired: February 11, 2011
• Television show theme: Financial advice
• Guest mentor and judge: Suze Orman
• Hosts Eliminated: Ryan O'Conner, Alicia Taylor

Episode 7: "I Have Some Questions for You"

• First Aired: February 18, 2011
• Television show theme: Press junket (as applied to promoting their own TV show)
• Guest mentor and judge: Gayle King
• Summary: The episode opens with O'Dell and Kressley informing Zach, Kristina and Terey that Ryan and Alicia were both eliminated and that the remaining challenges would be individual. After the opening credits, O'Dell and Kressley brief the final three about the press junket at the Sheraton Universal hotel, and bring out guest mentor Gayle King to advise them before the interviews on how to handle the press and promote the network. The contestants interview with both Craig Tomashoff of TV Guide and Kevin Frazier of Entertainment Tonight. They are then told about a third interview to complete, and the guest interviewer is none other than Oprah herself. Zach is the only one who takes the initiative to ask Oprah insightful questions during what could be a once in a lifetime opportunity. Following the interviews, they return to OWN Studios and chat about their "Oprah moment" before they pose for publicity photographs. When they return to Stage 2, O'Dell and Kressley reveal that Gayle had been watching all the interviews, and they discuss how the junket went and that all three bring something unique to the table before adding that a final interview with Gayle could decide the finalists. In elimnation, Zach is praised for being steady throughout the competition, and O'Dell announces he is the first finalist. While Kristina and Terey both did well, they felt Terey's direction for her show was not clear enough, and chose Kristina as the other finalist.
• Host Eliminated: Terey Summers

Episode 8: "And the Winner Is..."

• First Aired: February 25, 2011
• Television show theme: Producing a pilot episode for their own TV show
• Guest mentor and judge: Mark Burnett
• Host Eliminated: None
• Winner of their OWN show: Kristina & Zach

By Sean Gilbert M. Rukundo

CEO & FOUNDER