She was the richest African American person of the 20th century and the first black woman to become a multi-millionaire, but Oprah Winfrey started out in life as just a regular girl from a poor background in Mississippi.

A successful student, she obtained a full scholarship to Tennessee State University and over the years, has built up one of the most successful media empires.

After the incredible interest in her Emmy award winning talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, she quickly founded her own production company, Harpo and invested in helping victims of childhood sexual abuse, after confessing on her own show that she had been a victim herself during her childhood.

It doesn't stop there. in 2011, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honored Oprah with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, and in 2013, Oprah was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

She has her own television network, OWN, and a new talk show called "Oprah's Next Chapter". To this day, she is one of the most powerful celebrities in the world.