Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey is a global media leader, philanthropist, producer and actress. For 25 years (1986-2011), Winfrey was host of the award-winning The Oprah Winfrey Show, the highest-rated TV show of its kind in history. As chairman and CEO, she has guided her successful cable network, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network; is the founder of O, The Oprah Magazine; and oversees Harpo Films. In 2013, Winfrey was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Obama, the nation’s highest civilian honor. Winfrey is an Academy Award-nominated actress for her role in The Color Purple, earned critical acclaim in Lee Daniels’ The Butler, and produced and acted in the Academy Award-winning film Selma. Winfrey recently appeared in the HBO Films The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. She was the richest African American of the 20th century and North America's first Black multi-billionaire, and she has been ranked the greatest Black philanthropist in American history. By 2007, she was sometimes ranked as the most influential woman in the world. In 2013, Winfrey was awarded honorary doctorates by Duke and Harvard. She has received many other awards and honors throughout her career, including 18 Daytime Emmy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Chairman's Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, including the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award, a Tony Award, a Peabody Award, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, awarded by the Academy Awards. Winfrey is a major philanthropist in the United States and abroad, particularly South Africa. She has donated more than $400 million to higher education, including 400 scholarships at Morehouse College. In March 2020, Oprah Winfrey committed $10 million to support those most impacted by COVID-19, particularly in areas where she has lived including Chicago, Nashville, Milwaukee and Mississippi. Her foundation has exceeded the initial $10 million commitment and is currently at $13 million.