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Oprah's Billions: Adding Up the Money

Updated on: May 24, 2011 / 9:39 AM EDT / MoneyWatch

When Oprah Winfrey airs her last nationally syndicated television show, she will leave an immense financial legacy. Not only did Oprah create a massive fortune for herself, she enriched others and was a brand-builder of extraordinary proportions. In honor of her last show, here is Oprah by the numbers!

$2.7 Billion: Oprah's net worth
$290 Million: Amount Oprah earned from March 2010-2011
#130: Oprah lands at number 130 on the Forbes 400 list of the richest people in the US. She's #420 among the world's billionaires
42: Number of women on the Forbes 400
4: Number of self-made wealthy women on the Forbes 400 (Oprah, plus three others)
9: Oprah's ranking on the list of self-made billionaire women in the world
44 million: The number of weekly viewers in the US of Oprah, the top-rated talk show in television history
150,000 - 300,000: Number of viewers tuning into Oprah's new cable channel, OWN

Oprah Alum: Either directly through her production company, Harpo Productions, or by featuring them as guests on her show, Winfrey helped launch or greatly enhance, a number of television personalities including Dr. Phil McGraw, Rachael Ray, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Nate Berkus and Suze Orman. Here are some of their numbers:

2: Dr. Phil is the # 2-rated daytime talk show, behind you-know-who
18: Dr. Phil is # 18 on the Forbes 100 list of richest celebrities
$80 Million: Amount Dr. Phil earned from March 2010-2011
3.4 million: daily viewers of Dr. Phil Show, according to Nielsen
6: Number of #1 New York Times bestsellers penned by Dr. Phil
3: Rachael Ray hosts the # 3 rated daytime talk show
$60 Million: Rachael Ray's estimated net worth
3.2 million: daily viewers of the Rachael Ray Show, according to Nielsen
14: Ray is the 14^thMost Powerful Person in Food
50: # of appearances by Dr. Mehment Oz, before Harpo launched The Dr. Oz Show
$3 Million: Dr. Oz's estimated annual earnings (from his TV show only)
1.2 million: Although a disappointment in the world of Oprah, 1.2 million viewers are tuning into designer Nate Berkus' show daily
$32 Million: the estimated net worth of Suze Orman
19: number of books written by Suze Orman

Brand-Builder: While not as obvious as Carrie Bradshaw's love affair with Jimmy Choo shoes, Oprah's "Favorite Things" segment has propelled esoteric brands into the mainstream. Here are just a few:

Spanx: in 2000, the Atlanta-based underwear company sold $50 thousand products in just three months after being featured on Oprah
Garrett Popcorn: After Oprah talked about the company in 2002, the company's sales spiked by a staggering 100 percent
Kindle: Oprah touted the Kindle in October, 2008 - Amazon credits the mention, plus the Oprah viewer $50 discount, as the main reason the company sold out of inventory during the 2008 holiday season

Publishing Giant: The Oprah Book Club may be one of the most interesting of her financial legacies. Winfrey has been a one-woman boost for the beleaguered publishing industry since 1996. Authors soon clamored to be chosen as an Oprah Book Club selection and it's no wonder. Here are stats about the Oprah Winfrey Book Club:

65: total number of books selected
22 million: number of copies of Oprah Book Club books sold in the past ten years
3.4 million: number of copies sold "A New Earth" by Eckhart Tolle (#1 OBC)
2.7 million: number of copies sold "A Million Little Pieces" by James Frey (#2 OBC)
2 million: number of copies of "Night" by Elie Wiesel (#3 OBC)

Photo courtesy of Story Accents' photostream on Flickr

Jill Schlesinger

Jill Schlesinger, CFP® is the Emmy-nominated business analyst for CBS News. She covers the economy, markets, investing and anything else with a dollar sign on TV, radio (including her nationally syndicated radio show), the web and her blog, "Jill on Money." Prior to her second career at CBS, Jill spent 14 years as the co-owner and chief investment officer for an independent investment advisory firm. She began her career as a self-employed options trader on the Commodities Exchange of New York, following her graduation from Brown University.

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