Oprah Gets a New Money Manager

Oprah Winfrey is in the No. 400 spot on the latest Forbes 400 rich list. The magazine puts her net worth at $2.6 billion. Investor Eli Broad is No. 43 with a net worth of $5.4 billion. But Broad's money manager must feel like he's taking a step up as he moves into Oprah's circle as her money manager.

According toThe Wall Street Journal, investment expert Peter Adamson, who has been in charge of Broad's money will perform a similar job for Oprah. The paper says that "Bringing on Mr. Adamson is considered a coup for Ms. Winfrey. Mr. Adamson, a 47-year-old Stanford University business-school graduate, has served as Mr. Broad's investment chief since 2001" Adamson's management of the Broad Foundation has produced results that have generally outperformed the market.

In late 2009, Oprah announced that she would leave her popular syndicated show to start her own TV network. Her last show will air on Sept. 25, 2011. "The Oprah Winfrey Network" will try to build a cable audience of its own. The project will be set up in a partnership with The Discovery Channel.

But a number of experts believe that the move is unwise. "Oprah is the ultimate brand in media today," said Adam Hanft, a media and marketing consultant, The New York Daily News reported. "But I don't know if that will transfer to making a whole network successful. People don't watch networks, they watch programs," Oprah's gamble is big enough that she may need a good money manager to offset the effects of what's likely to be a very costly project.