BE 100s: Winning Lessons from Top Companies of the Year

Not only did BLACK ENTERPRISE select Harpo Inc. as the 2008 Industrial/Service Company of the Year but it was the first time that billionaire entrepreneur Oprah Winfrey spoke to the press in detail about her business empire. At the time, the dynamo was still developing Oprah Winfrey Network or OWN, asserting that divine inspiration, not strategic planning, drove her company’s success. She also admitted that it took a solid business team and sound financial controls to grow her entity from a five-person production company to a 430-employee multimedia conglomerate. Moreover, she owns every piece of her franchise: the content, name, brand and studio.