When you think of the richest TV personalities, Simon Cowell and Jamie Oliver are likely to spring to mind, but they have absolutely nothing on the wealthiest one in the world
Being a beloved TV star is no easy feat – it requires charm, talent, and serious graft. And often, fame and fortune follow suit.
If asked to guess the wealthiest TV personality, names like Simon Cowell or Jamie Oliver might spring to mind, given their enduring popularity over the years. However, neither of these celebs hold the title.
In fact, the richest TV personality boasts a staggering net worth of £3 billion, dwarfing the combined wealth of Simon Cowell and Jamie Oliver.
Simon, known for his stints on Pop Idol, The X Factor UK, and Britain’s Got Talent, reportedly has a net worth of £492 million. He first gained public attention in 2001 as a judge on Pop Idol, after successfully pitching the show to ITV’s Controller of Entertainment with its creator, Simon Fuller. Prior to this, he was a record producer, talent agent and consultant in the UK music industry.
Jamie Oliver, on the other hand, is famous for entirely different reasons. With an estimated net worth of £164 million, he started his career as a pastry chef before working as a sous-chef at the River Café. It was here that his knack for being in front of the camera was discovered during a documentary filming at the restaurant.
He first made his mark on television with ‘The Naked Chef,’ a show where he demonstrated how to prepare healthy meals using simple ingredients. The programme was a hit, leading him in 2005 to launch a campaign initially named ‘Feed Me Better’, aimed at improving the diet of British schoolchildren.
However, his move to ban turkey twizzlers from school dinners due to their low turkey meat content and high levels of fat and sugar was less well received by children. Despite his successful career, he doesn’t hold the title of the world’s wealthiest TV personality – that honour goes to Oprah Winfrey, who has outstripped both him and Simon Cowell.
Winfrey transformed her popular talk show, which ran for 25 years until 2011, into a media and business empire. According to Parade, she earns an astonishing $9.99 (£8.19) per second.
Not only is Winfrey a producer and actress, but she also broke barriers as the first Black American woman to own her own production company. She earned an Academy Award nomination for her debut film, The Color Purple.
Additionally, Winfrey has invested in Weight Watchers and served as the company’s spokesperson from 2015–2024, reportedly earning a total of $221 million (£178 million from the deal.
The stock price of the weight loss firm soared following her investment, leading The Wall Street Journal to coin the term “Oprahfication,” as everything Oprah touches seemingly turns to gold. Moreover, Winfrey is a social media titan, boasting 41.1 million followers on X, 23 million Instagram admirers and a YouTube subscriber base of 183,000.
