Whoopi Goldberg has been a national treasure to the culture for almost four decades. She began as a comedian and actor, which afforded her the accolades and career decorations that she's accumulated over the years, and ultimately landed at The View as a lead co-host, a gig she has had since 2005. Goldberg is one of a handful of people on this planet who can say she's an EGOT winner (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards), and yet she still manages to keep her humble, simplistic lifestyle in the forefront.
And what's even more impressive, is despite her easy-going persona, she has managed to stack quite a bit of coins in the process; $60 million coins to be exact. And not only that, since the retirement of billionaire Oprah Winfrey, she is the only black woman to have a hosting purse that large. So large, that according to Yahoo! Finance, Goldberg is one of 10 hosts listed as the richest to currently hold the title. She earns an annual salary of approximately $8 million per year and has almost 200 entertainment notches to her name (with her most famous works being Ghost and the Sister Act films). In fact, Entertainment Weekly says she was paid $7 million for her starring role in the 1993 sequel Sister Act 2, which during that time, was unprecedented.
When asked what her biggest money lesson she has learned since building her wealth, she took us to school, telling Black Enterprise:
"Know what your money is doing. There was a time when I didn't pay attention and my money disappeared. It's also important to understand how things like taxes are impacting your money. If you make $1 million, that doesn't mean that you're taking $1 million home. Then, for me, there's agents, FICA, MICA, you name it. I had to learn to figure all of that into the equation."
She continues:
"Financial literacy is a big problem. We (black folks), didn't get to accumulate wealth and are playing catch-up. We've got to learn how the stuff works. Why you need a will in order to protect your family. What is interest? How does it affect my taxes? You've really got to know what's going on and be patient with yourself."
Goldberg beat out Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon to wrap up the top eight. Stephen Colbert ($75M), Kelly Ripa ($120M), Conan O'Brien ($150M), Sharon Osbourne ($220M), Ryan Seacrest ($450M), Dr. Phil ($460M), and Ellen Degeneres ($500M) all round out the remainder of the top ten on the list.
Looks like this list could use a lil' more melanin, so...who's next?!
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