Oprah Winfrey| $3.5 Billion| Producer

Who hasn’t heard the name Oprah Winfrey these days? The TV show host, author, and business mogul has created a media empire, which helped her reach billionaire status. She began her career on TV as a co-anchor on the six o’clock news. She later co-hosted a talk show called People Are Talking, which later went on to beat Phil Donahue in ratings.

ABC saw Winfrey’s potential and made her host her own 30-minute program, which would, later on, become a full-hour show. She established HARPO productions, one of her earlier investments, and followed it up with a few more that eventually raked in millions for her each year. Currently, Winfrey is busy producing two movies. The first one is a remake of Color Purple, and the other is yet undisclosed. Although her talk show has long ended, Oprah still continues to make a ton of money from its series spinoffs, including Dr. Phil and The Dr. Oz Show.