Suze Orman

Suze Orman Profile

From health care plans to retirement funds, Suze Orman shows you the smartest ways to move your money. Ranked among the best female motivational speakers in the world by Business Week, Orman has shared her advice with millions via speaking engagements, her top-selling books, and the award-winning Suze Orman Show which aired on CNBC for thirteen years.

Orman was a frequent face on The Oprah Winfrey Show and contributing editor to O, The Oprah Magazine for 16 years. Throughout her television career, she received 8 Gracie Awards in recognition for the valuable content she created for and delivered to female audiences. Orman was ranked among the top ten most influential celebrities by Forbes and among Forbes’ “most powerful women.” She has written seven New York Times best sellers and hosted six PBS specials based on her books.

Orman spent her early adulthood as a waitress earning $400 per month. At age 29 she decided she wanted to open up her own restaurant and received a generous “interest-free loan” of $50,000 from her boss and customers. She invested that money with a broker at a Merrill Lynch office who made some risky moves with it and lost it. As a result, Orman began to study finance and applied for a job at the same office, believing that if the man who lost her money could be a broker, she could be one, too. She was hired and during her training quickly discovered that her broker had broken several rules with her investment, but because he was one of the branch’s highest earners, management was looking the other way. She sued Merrill Lynch while still working for them and won back her money plus interest.

The incident left a permanent mark on Orman, who focused her career on financially educating everyday people and empowering them to “get their lives and money in order.”

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  Suze Orman has been called “a force in the world of personal finance” and a “one-woman financial advice powerhouse” by USA Today. A two-time Emmy Award-winning television host, New York Times mega bestselling author, magazine and online columnist, writer/producer, and one of the top motivational speakers in the world today, Orman is undeniably America’s most recognized expert on personal finance.

  Orman was the contributing editor to “O” The Oprah Magazine for 16 years, the Costco Connection magazine for over 18 years, and hosted the award winning Suze Orman Show, which aired every Saturday night on CNBC for 13 years. Over her television career Suze has accomplished that which no other television personality ever has before. Not only is she the single most successful fundraiser in the history of Public Television, but she has also garnered an unprecedented eight Gracie awards, more than anyone in the entire history of this prestigious award. The Gracies recognize the nation’s best radio, television, and cable programming for, by, and about women.

  In March 2013, Forbes magazine awarded Suze a spot in the top 10 on a list of the most influential celebrities of 2013. In January 2013, The Television Academy Foundation’s Archive of American Television has honored Suze’s broadcast career accomplishments with her recent inclusion in its historic Emmy TV Legends interview collection.

  In 2010, Orman was also honored with the Touchstone Award from Women in Cable Telecommunications, was named one of “The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women” by Forbes and was presented with an Honorary Doctor of Commercial Science degree from Bentley University. In that same month, Orman received the Gracie Allen Tribute Award from the American Women in Radio and Television (AWRT); the Gracie Allen Tribute Award is bestowed upon an individual who truly plays a key role in laying the foundation for future generations of women in the media.

  In October 2009, Orman was the recipient of a Visionary Award from the Council for Economic Education for being a champion on economic empowerment. In July 2009, Forbes named Orman 18th on their list of The Most Influential Women In Media. In May 2009, Orman was presented with an honorary degree Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Illinois. In May 2009 and May 2008, Time named Orman as one of the TIME 100, The World’s Most Influential People. In October 2008, Orman was the recipient of the National Equality Award from the Human Rights Campaign.

  In April 2008, Orman was presented with the Amelia Earhart Award for her message of financial empowerment for women. Saturday Night Live has spoofed Suze six times during 2008-2011. In 2007, Business Week named Orman one of the top ten motivational speakers in the world—she was the ONLY woman on that list, thereby making her 2007’s top female motivational speaker in the world.

  Orman who grew up on the South Side of Chicago earned a bachelor’s degree in social work at the University of Illinois and at the age of 30 was still a waitress making $400 a month.