Oprah Winfrey Gaslighting 101
Here’s the story of a black woman who used a white audience to make her filthy rich. Then she went ultra woke. Now she’s lashing out against the ‘white culture‘ that made her a household name. Its Oprah Winfrey gaslighting 101. And she thinks we are all fools.
Oprah has turned into another “race-bater”. Because it’s so ‘trendy’ among the Hollywood blacks. Isn’t it? If you have one drop of black blood, even 25%, and you are as woke like her, she will defend you on live telly. Just ask Meghan Markle.
Oprah has already employed her ‘flying monkey‘ Gayle King to do her bidding. Drip, drip on CBS. Get all the woke nonsense in one place. She may have ‘bagged’ the Meghan Markle soap opera. But Oprah is definitely no queen. Now, the Markle lies are flooding out. How will she cope?
Oprah Winfrey Gaslighting 101 – The Reality check
Gaslighting
The process of causing someone to doubt their own thoughts, beliefs and perceptions.
Cambridge Dictionary
Hypocrisy doesn’t begin to describe Oprah Winfrey. Here is the reality check. Oprah looks really good on paper, but in truth, she has been struggling to keep things going. She is failing upwards. She is back to playing second fiddle to more prominent brands, like creating content for Apple TV.
Her O Magazine ceased their print edition in December 2020, after 20 years. And 95% of her OWN network is ‘owned‘ by Discovery. Oprah owns Harpo Productions, sans Harpo Studios (demolished 2016). In February 2013, the subsidiary Harpo Films shut down. Is it any wonder? Her films failed to make an impact. In January 2015, Harpo Radio aka Oprah Radio failed to captivate an audience and closed.
Oprah once was the ‘golden’ goose and anything she touched turned to gold. Now, she is a wounded pigeon and a footnote. She relies on much bigger and recognised brands to bail her out. She needs to keep the bank rolling. Look at all the expenses! Multiple homes, private jet, operating costs, employees, luxury items and tastes! She has to keep up appearances. That’s what these characters do. Don’t buy into her ‘fantasy‘. It’s really a house of cards.
It will be interesting to see what she does for Apple TV. Supposedly it’s all about mental health with ‘Montecito Harry’. The same Harry who couldn’t help his wife. And he’s the Co-Founder of ‘Heads Together‘. Remember the big plug during the ‘interview’? She’s really good at plugging for ratings and bucks! But what Harry needs is help with his own mental issues.
Oprah Winfrey Gaslighting 101
Oprah Winfrey Hypocrisy Exposed
The Discovery Deal
Some people may not be familiar with how deals are structured. There is the option for the all cash deal. A combination of cash and stock or the all stock deal, when the company is publicly traded. Discovery had a joint venture deal with Harpo before staking a claim to OWN. The last transaction with OWN was on 20th December 2020 in an all stock deal. This meant that instead of transacting with cash, Discovery gave Oprah $35M worth of common stocks to increase their stake of OWN to 95%. Discovery also pays out dividends, which she will receive per share, unless she opts to reinvest the dividends (DRIP). Any earnings are taxed as capital gains, if she sells shares and/or withdraws the dividends.
Check out our SMART investing serial on how a company goes public.
Understanding Money and Wealth
Keep in mind that $35M to $95M is pretty low by ‘industry’ standards. Due to the operational costs, it’s not a lot of money. Some enterprises bleed money, or operate in the red. Oprah never could capitalise on the streaming bonanza. Oprah is a minority in her OWN company. She started OWN with Discovery in 2011. Discovery has been buying her out ever since.
Oprah’s Montecito Pals
There is an outrageous amount of ignorance when it comes to money and wealth. Let’s look at the ‘Montecito Windsors’. One would think $150 million Netflix deal is a lot of money. But it isn’t. Most deals are structured based on tiers, meaning performance output. So, Markle and Haz have to prove themselves. They may already be stretched too thin. This includes Haz’s new gigs and Archewell. Even with a 501(c)3, you still have payroll and other operating expenses. And they continue to struggle with staffing.
Evaluating Your Net worth
The bottom line is that your net worth is the difference between your ASSETS minus LIABILITIES. The ‘secret’ to a healthy net worth is to carry less debt. And spend less than you bring in. It’s doubtful that ‘spendthrift Markle‘ knows the difference living in a 19 bathroom house.
Fortune erroneously calculated Markle’s ‘net worth‘ at $4.25m (17 November 2017) solely based on income. Consequently other jurnos including Money (22 May 2018) regurgitated this lie without doing any investigating. Some, even upped it to $5m (Town&Country, 18 January 2020). The lie then stuck in the public domain.
Net worth cannot be calculated without the liabilities or expenses. Otherwise it’s called ‘gross’ income. Liabilities or expenses as a ‘working’ actor include fees to agents and managers. Some retain a PR firm and legal counsel, as did Markle. Not to mention taxes paid. Then you have basic needs such as housing, utilities, food. Luxury expenses such as travel, entertainment, wardrobe and personal. You need to calculate debt. These include loans (i.e. auto, mortgage, student) and credit card(s).
Wealth Management
A good strategy on expenses is spend 25% for housing. We suggest stocking away at least 10% for savings. At least 15% toward investment. This strategy allows you to have an emergency fund and a retirement fund. The earlier you stock away, the more compounding interest you will earn.
BetterUp Inc.
We have been inundated with requests for more information on ‘Montecito Harry, and his new gig at BetterUp. We are not going through an exhaustive evaluation on this one. What we can say is it’s not stock options. BetterUp, as of this report, is not publicly traded. It’s either still in the funding stages or pre IPO stage. They may even go through a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) when they do publicly launch. We don’t even know the company’s valuation. And frankly, we don’t care. This is one company we are not watching. Our VC policy is stringent and relies upon a confidence vote. We are not interested in investing in the ‘Montecito Windsors’.
BetterUp Valuation?
(Updated: 30 March 2021) – Calm down people. Yes, we read ALL your comments on the valuation reported by the media. it’s all FAKE news UNTIL you actually see the BALANCE SHEET. So what if the news reports value Betterup at $1billion? This sounds like the amount they raised PLUS assets. We don’t know how many VC funding rounds they went through. We wouldn’t be surprised if it was 20. Just “keep calm and wash your hands”.
