Steve Harvey, who just premiered his new talk show 'Steve' today (Tuesday, Sept. 5th) sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to discuss his new show (that's taped in L.A.), and shared some business advice Media Mogul, Oprah taught him.
That's what Oprah taught me. She said, "Steve, no matter what, get 51 percent ownership." So, when I was approaching the end of my deal with NBC [for The Steve Harvey Show], IMG came along and said, "Hey, we want to play in the sandbox with you, but we'll let you own the bulk of it," I called Oprah.
Steve said he called Oprah and asked her if the deal made sense.
"Oprah, does this make sense to you?" She called Ari [Emanuel] at WME-IMG and said, "Is this real?" And they laughed. Of course, they laugh differently. I call it the billionaire's chuckle. And then Oprah called me back and said, "Steve, the key to your success is ownership." She's taught me a lot about business.Steve also said Oprah taught him not to get caught up trying to address tabloid stories.
She talks to me about organization and what to look out for and what not to mind. She said she and Dr. Phil were calling each other every day talking about, "Hey, I'm on the cover of the Enquirer today." "I got you." She said, "Never mind that. You do not have time to address it, so just keep moving."
Steve's Master Class also premiered on Oprah's OWN network last week, where he revealed that he wants to live his life so that his kids would be proud.
"I so desperately want them to be proud of me," Steve says of his kids. "I want to have lived my life, man, so that they, so they get it, so they want to jump they self, take chances."Steve's wife, Marjorie, is also a firm believer in their children taking chances. "Marjorie's motto is, 'Your wings work. Use them.' She says that all the time," Steve adds. "She said [...] 'Let them go fail. Let them get it wrong. Let them get it wrong 'til it hurts.'"
Pic Credit: Steve Harvey Show
