Oprah Winfrey has often said, “To whom much is given, much is expected.”
Even though she’s worth an estimated $2.4 billion and has had a top-rated TV talk show for close to 25 years, no one expected her to be quite so giving.
Whether it’s her Oprah’s Angel Network, which distributed $80 million in donations from 1998 to 2010, or “Oprah’s Favorite Things,” the annual Christmas gift spectacular on her show, she’s got a way of giving big.
In anticipation of the launch of her Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) on Saturday, Jan. 1, we look back at Oprah’s most giving moments.
1. “YOU Get a Car, YOU Get a Car, YOU Get a Car!”
In September 2004, Oprah gave almost 300 audience members a conniption when she surprised them with brand new Pontiac G6 cars. There was some controversy when they found out that neither Pontiac nor Oprah had picked up the sales tax, which could cost as much as $7,000. Still, the event set the stage for even bigger future gifts and gave the world the fantastic “Oprah Car Remix.”
2. Beetlemania
She learned her lesson by 2010, when she gave away 275 not-yet-for-sale Volkswagen Beetles and noted that VW would be covering all hidden costs. Audience members were ecstatic, even though they can’t get behind the wheel until the 2012 models officially go on sale next fall.
3. Austraaaaaaalia
This fall, Oprah went bigger than ever before — literally — when an airplane rolled out onstage as she announced that she was taking her audience with her to Australia. (Things got really crazy when pilot John Travolta popped out of the cockpit.) Portions of the trip will air on her upcoming season.
4. The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy School for Girls
By far our favorite donation of Winfrey’s is the $40 million girls boarding school she created in South Africa. (Easy to say when we didn’t get handed the keys to a new car, right?) It opened in January 2007 with a small group of young leaders from across the nation. Just 152 girls were accepted from a pool of 3,500 applicants for the first class.
Photo by PR Photos.