On Monday, October 19, Oprah Winfrey bought a 10% stake in the weight loss company Weight Watchers.
The billionaire media mogul spent $43 million on the investment and will also receive the option of buying an additioanl 5% stake. The reason Winfrey is investing this much in this company (besides from the expected profit) is her own membership in the organization.
”Weight Watchers has given me the tools to begin to make the lasting shift that I and so many of us who are struggling with weight have longed for. I believe in the program so much I decided to invest in the company and partner in its evolution,” Oprah said in a statement.
And being a stakeholder with such a percentage and influence, Winfrey was offered to a position on the board of directors for Weight Watchers. Her role will be to advise and encourage members of the company by telling her own story and sharing her experience.
“Through our conversations, it became clear that there is tremendous alignment between Oprah’s intention and out mission,” Jim Chambers, Weight Watchers CEO, said in a statement on the partnership.
Winfrey is not the first celebrity spokeswoman for the company, but she is the most powerful in a list of high-profile names such as Jennifer Hudson and Jenny McCarthy.
Having a spokeswoman like Oprah is nothing but a win for Weight Watchers as Ms. Winfrey’s impact on the world is widespread. Her influence, combined with the well-known fact that Oprah has been struggling with a weight problem herself, makes the partnership both meaningful and trustworthy.
The company was founded more than 50 years ago and has gained more and more success in helping people to lose weight all over the world.
Image via Flickr/Alan Light
