We already brought you part one of our list of 15 things you probably did not know about Oprah Winfrey, and now we’re back with part two! Check out eight more fascinating facts about the iconic talk show host and public figure that you definitely (probably) did not know below. You might be surprised by what you find out!
Number Eight: She Has Romantic Ties to Roger Ebert. Oprah and the late film critic went on two dates, but one of these dates was extremely important for Oprah’s life. Ebert convinced Oprah on their second date that she should sign a national syndication contract for her then-local show. And the rest is history!
Number Seven: She Is Incredibly Generous. In 2011, Oprah was the most generous celebrity philanthropist in the United States, and we’re guessing her rank hasn’t dropped much since then. She has reportedly donated more than $350 million to various charities all over the world.
Number Six: She Is the Third Richest African-American Woman in the World. Oprah is second only to oil tycoon Folorunsho Alakija and Angolan investor Isabel dos Santos on the list of richest African-American women in the world. While Alakija’s net worth is $7.3 billion and dos Santos’ net worth is $3.3 billion, Oprah’s net worth is an impressive $3 billion.
Number Five: She Is North America’s Only African-American Billionaire. We already mentioned that Oprah is the third richest African-American woman in the world, but she is also North America’s only African-American billionaire! So far, anyway.
Number Four: She Had a Really Rough Childhood. Oprah was born into poverty in rural Mississippi. As if that wasn’t bad enough, her mother was a single teenager when she had her, Oprah was raped when she was nine, became pregnant when she was 14, had the child, and he died in infancy.
Number Three: She Has Her Own Effect. Oprah has become such an influential figure over the years that she has her own effect called “The Oprah Effect.” Some examples of The Oprah Effect in action include her ability to significantly boost sales of otherwise-unknown books by promoting them in her book club and the fact that Texas cattlemen sued her after she said she would never pick up another burger again after a show about mad cow disease.
Number Two: She Is on the Cover of Every Issue of Her Magazine. And if you’re Oprah, well, there’s nothing wrong with that.
Number One: There’s a Reason She’s Never Had Children. Though Oprah is an incredibly maternal figure, she and her partner Stedman have never had children. She says that they chose not to because “something [in my life] would have had to suffer and it probably would’ve been [the children.]” But really, aren’t we all Oprah’s children?