Oprah (Harpo Studios)

We close out Season 6 with the story of perhaps the single most successful media entrepreneur of all-time: Oprah Winfrey, and her juggernaut conglomerate Harpo Studios. Born to a poor single mother in the segregated 1950's deep south, Oprah's rise from terrible adversity to wealthiest Black woman in the world ranks among the very greatest American success stories. And oh yeah — along the way she single-handedly created the entire influencer economy, rewrote the blueprint of a modern power broker, and set the world record for most cars given away at one time (276). Sit back, listen and get ready to live your best life.

Sponsors:

• WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25
• Sierra: https://bit.ly/acquiredsierra
• Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry
• Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25

More Acquired!

• Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes
• Join the Slack
• Subscribe to ACQ2
• Merch Store!

© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLC

Survey link!: http://acquired.fm/survey

Carveouts:

• David: The Dark Tower series by Stephen King https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07959YG1R?
• Ben: Reply All "Long Distance" https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/6nh3wk

Sources:

• http://blackeconomics.co.uk/wp/oprahs-empire/
• http://www.oprah.com/entertainment/the-oprah-winfrey-show-by-the-numbers-oprah-show-statistics/all
• http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/The-Oprah-Shows-Most-Shocking-Moments_1
• https://diverseeducation.com/article/1205/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oprah_Winfrey
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oprah_Winfrey_Network
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WW_International
• https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-oprah-regrets-famous-wagon-233648610.html
• https://freakonomics.com/2008/08/06/so-much-for-one-person-one-vote/
• https://hbr.org/podcast/2018/01/black-business-leaders-series-oprahs-path-to-authentic-leadership
• https://stmuhistorymedia.org/from-rags-to-riches-the-story-of-oprah-winfrey/
• https://www.amazon.com/Oprah-Biography-Kitty-Kelley/dp/0307394875
• https://www.amazon.com/Ride-Lifetime-Lessons-Learned-Company/dp/0399592091
• https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1998-09-25-9809260006-story.html
• https://www.cnn.com/ampstories/entertainment/how-oprah-winfrey-built-her-business-empire
• https://www.forbes.com/profile/oprah-winfrey/#c52ce3e5745f
• https://www.forbes.com/sites/jennifereum/2014/09/29/how-oprah-went-from-talk-show-host-to-first-african-american-woman-billionaire/#7f21cfb76163
• https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/oprah-gives-away-nearly-300-new-cars
• https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/you-get-a-car-oprah-winfrey-giveaway-studio-audience-gift-tax-members-guests-pay-show-a8208051.html
• https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/tv-radio/an-anxious-america-gets-set-for-life-after-oprah-2285528.html
• https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-feb-21-ca-27886-story.html
• https://www.npr.org/podcasts/500692140/making-beyonc
• https://www.nytimes.com/1993/02/12/news/jackson-interview-high-in-ratings.html
• https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/23/business/media/23carr.html
• https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/11/business/media/end-of-oprahs-show-tightens-races-for-tv-ratings.html
• https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/the-oprah-phenomenon-by-the-numbers
• https://www.robertfeder.com/2016/06/15/legendary-tv-exec-dennis-swanson-retires/
• https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2017/05/13/oprah-winfrey-untold-story/
• https://www.thebalancesmb.com/oprah-winfrey-entrepreneur-1200951
• https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/jan/12/oprah-winfrey-unlikely-to-run-for-us-president-but-could-win-if-she-did
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/oprahs-last-show-averaged-8957-million-fewer-viewers-than-mash-finale/2011/06/08/AGD5AUMH_story.html
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cooRceBiE8E