See The Most Hypocritical Thing Oprah Just Said When youre filthy rich, have your own TV show, and are constantly giving cars away, its no surprise that your friends would ask you for help if they need it. Unless, of course, youre Oprah Winfrey. Oprah has recently revealed that as she became richer, people began asking her for money. Shocking right? This is what I find, people ask for money based on what they think you have, Winfrey told TMZ. So when I was making $22,000 a year, people always needed $50. Then when I moved to $50,000 a year, people always needed $500. Now, nobody needs anything less than $50,000. Today, Oprah is second on Forbes list of 100 power celebrities. She brings in millions from a variety of sources, including her cable network OWN, which earned $77 million last year alone. 