While Reese Witherspoon being a billionaire doesn’t seem like a super far-fetched thought, the actress just debunked the rumor that she was one. After claims spread that the businesswoman was part of the elite rich club, she swiftly denied them and name-dropped Oprah Winfrey while she did it.
Reese Witherspoon works in quite a few different industries and has multiple streams of income. This includes the fashion and lifestyle brand Draper James. Earlier this week it was confirmed that Consortium Brand Partners acquired 70% ownership stake in her brand. This major business deal along with the highly publicized $900 million sale of her company Hello, Sunshine in 2021, led to claims that she was a billionaire. Well, while speaking at the INBOUND Conference, she set the record straight (via People):
I didn’t. They’re wrong.
Folks, there you have it, Reese Witherspoon confirmed she is not a billionaire. The Legally Blonde star continued to explain that she was flattered by the claim though, saying:
That’s enormously flattering and if I ever touched the bottom of whatever Oprah’s magic golden boots do, I would be so lucky.
For context, Winfrey’s reported net worth is $2.8 billion according to Forbes. Meanwhile, Witherspoon’s net worth is reportedly $440 million, per Forbes. So, it makes sense that the Wild actress cited her when she explained how she is not a billionaire.
While Reese Witherspoon isn’t part of the elite billionaire club, there’s no denying how successful she is.
Outside of her career as an actor, Witherspoon has proven herself as a powerful businesswoman. For example, she founded Hello Sunshine, a media company behind huge projects like The Morning Show, Daisy Jones & The Six, Big Little Lies and more. Not only is the company a big deal, it’s sale was too as it went for almost a billion dollars in 2021. Speaking at the same conference about her decision to found Hello Sunshine and really invest her time and money into it, she said:
I was told not to put my own money in it several times by many, many advisors. I saw people who were taking money from studios, and I saw how watered down the product was. I saw that they were sitting on material that never got made.
Since its founding, Hello Sunshine has made some huge hits, however, in its earlier days, even after Gone Girl came out, it was barely hanging on. The company produced Wild and Gone Girl as its first two movies, although, according to its founder, they could “barely keep” the doors open during that time. Witherspoon went on to explain that it really started thriving when she began working on “audience engagement,” Reese’s Book Club and “promoting women’s stories” on social media.
While Witherspoon and her ex-husband Jim Toth got a divorce earlier this year, she also noted how helpful he was when starting the company, saying:
I approached my husband at the time and a business partner and retooled the business plan. And so we went ahead to raise capital, which was a whole lot of asking people for money. It was terrifying. Every day I would wake up and I would do something to further my dream.
Even though the rumors about Witherspoon being a billionaire are false, her companies serve as a great example of how business savvy and committed she is.
There’s no denying how successful Reese Witherspoon is as both a businesswoman and an actress. As she continues to work hard behind the scenes, she’ll also be appearing on screen soon because Season 3 of The Morning Show premieres on the 2023 TV schedule September 13, and it will be available to those with an Apple TV+ subscription.