Author and podcast host Suze Orman has been an iconic voice in the personal finance space since the late 90s, when she first rose to household fame after multiple appearances on the Oprah Winfrey Show.
Her no-nonsense approach to saving and spending, combined with her charismatic on-screen aura and just a hint of spirituality, helped Orman garner a large following. Over the course of her 30-year career in financial media, she’s accumulated an impressive net worth — no doubt in part due to her adherence to the same financial principles she espouses to her fans and readers.
As her publicist told SFGate in 1999, Orman’s commitment to frugality isn’t just an act: “she’s very real. You won’t see her jumping into limousines.” That being said, she has admitted that flying on private jets is her “greatest pleasure,” explaining to Business Jet Traveler that “It’s efficiency, first; health, second; pleasure, third … I have to fly in, fly out, be in another place the next day. The only way to do that is on a private plane.”
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Orman’s latest venture is her “Women and Money,” podcast, a weekly show she launched in 2018 that usually averages around half an hour in length. In every episode (659 and counting), Orman speaks “directly to every mother, daughter, grandmother, sister, and wife” about everything from health savings accounts to investing to estate planning
So, after 29 full-hour specials on “Oprah,” 10 New York Times bestselling books, a 13-season CNBC television show, and now a successful podcast, how much is Suze Orman worth?
Suze Orman is seen here speaking at the Forbes and Mika Brzezinski 50 Over 50 Celebration.
What is Suze Orman’s net worth in 2025?
As of 2025, Orman’s net worth is estimated to be around $75 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth, which does not cite a source for this figure or explain its estimation methodology.
If this estimate is accurate, it would make Orman about $20 million richer than the man most would consider to be her biggest peer in personal finance media — Dave Ramsey, whose net worth is estimated at around $55 million. Orman is almost nine years Ramsey’s senior, however, so the “Total Money Makeover” author has time to catch up
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Is it true that Suze Orman never goes out to dinner?
Orman has long been known for her admonishment of dining out, but does she live by her word, even with a net worth of $75 million?
While it’s hard to say for certain without hiring a private detective, as recently as 2024, she was quoted by the Wall Street Journal as saying “I refuse to eat out. I think that eating out on any level is one of the biggest wastes of money out there,” when asked about where she likes to pinch pennies.
Orman’s frugality when it comes to restaurants isn’t just reserved for fancy dinners, though — apparently, she feels the same way about mid-day Starbucks runs, preferring to make her daily cup at home: “I do Cafe Bustelo coffee every morning. I would drop dead before I bought a coffee.”
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How did Suze Orman get rich? Her career explained
Orman’s career success as a personal finance author was no doubt propelled to some degree by the so-called “Oprah Effect.” The charisma and relatability she demonstrated on her early television appearances, combined with the Queen of Media’s official endorsement, helped land almost all of Orman’s literary efforts on the New York Times bestseller list.
Her first book, “You’ve Earned It, Don’t Lose It: Mistakes You Can’t Afford to Make When You Retire,” came before she appeared on Oprah, and didn’t grace the NYT bestseller list. It did, however, sell out over 2 million hardcover copies after she promoted it on the QVC home shopping network, marking the first time Orman displayed her prowess as a highly charismatic television personality.
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Orman’s early life
Long before Orman burst onto the pop finance scene in the mid-90s, she grew up in a working-class Jewish family of European descent. She remained in Illinois for her undergraduate studies, earning a BA in social work from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1976. During her freshman year, Orman worked seven days a week washing dishes to afford her expenses.
Neither Orman’s collegiate studies nor her first career pursuit would hint at the direction her life would later take as a financial advisor and media personality. After school, she moved to Berkeley, California, and after working as a waitress for six years, borrowed around $50,000 — apparently from her regulars at the Buttercup Bakery — to open her own restaurant.
Orman took the money to Merryl Lynch to invest it in a money market account on the advice of one of her customers. Instead, the broker on duty invested Orman’s loan money into risky option strategies, and within three months, it was gone, along with her dreams of restaurant ownership.
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The start of Orman’s financial career
So, Oman pivoted — she got a job at the very brokerage that had lost her money and began studying for her Series 7 stockbroker exam.
While growing into a successful broker, Orman sued Merryl Lynch after learning during her studies that a broker “could not invest a person’s money speculatively or risk their money if the customer could not afford to lose it,” which was exactly what her broker had done. The company settled and paid Orman back with interest, allowing her to repay her former customers.
In 1983, Orman left Lynch to become VP of investments at Prudential Bache Securities, where she worked for several years before leaving to launch her very own firm — the Suze Orman Financial Group — in 1987.
Books and television
Orman’s career as we know it probably began with the release of her first hyper-successful personal finance tome in 1994. This was “You’ve Earned It, Don’t Lose It,” which she promoted on the QVC home shopping network, as mentioned above. Each of her subsequent books was a New York Times bestseller, including her 2017 children’s book, “The Adventures of Billy & Penny.”
Orman’s first appearances on Oprah took place in the wake of her second book’s success. Her first guest appearance was only a short segment within a larger episode, but this was enough to convince Oprah that she needed to bring Orman back for a full-hour feature. Oprah’s audience loved Orman, and she later joined the likes of Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz as Oprah royalty, even appearing alongside the two in the 2011 program, “Ask Oprah’s All-Stars.”
In 2002, Orman launched her own television program, the eponymous “Suze Orman Show” on CNBC, during which she fielded questions from live callers about their own financial situations. The successful Saturday night program also included a segment called Suze Cam, during which live camera crews went out in public and took questions from passers-by at shopping malls and other public locations.
The show ran weekly until 2015. In 2012, while her own show was ongoing, Orman also starred in a six-episode miniseries called “America’s Money Class with Suze Orman,” which aired on Oprah’s OWN network.
Orman’s current work
Nowadays, Orman’s primary outlet is her “Women and Money” podcast, which has released weekly episodes since 2018. The show covers every aspect of personal finance, with each episode digging deep into a specific topic and answers questions submitted by listeners.
It’s not dissimilar from “The Suze Orman Show” aside from being female-focused and in radio format.
Suze Orman and Kathy “KT” Travis have been married since 2010 and are also business partners.
Michael Stewart/Getty Images
Who is Suze Orman’s wife?
Orman has been married to Kathy Travis, better known as KT, since 2010. KT is also Orman’s business partner, and she often helps the bestselling author field listener questions on Orman’s “Women and Money” podcast.
According to Orman, KT acts sort of like her agent. In a 2019 interview with The Cut, Orman remarked, “KT’s career has been building brands, and I’m a brand. So now, KT is vital behind the scenes, making deals.” She’s the one who says to me, “They’re paying you to do this thing.” I go, “How much? You asked for what? Really? And they said yes?” It always shocks me.
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Suze Orman’s books in order of release
“You’ve Earned It, Don’t Lose It” (1994) “The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom” (1997)“The Courage to be Rich” (1999)“The Road to Wealth” (2001)“The Laws of Money, The Lessons of Life” (2003)“The Money Book for the Young Fabulous and Broke” (2005)“Women & Money” (2007)“The 2009 Action Plan” (2009)“Suze Orman’s Action Plan: New Rules for New Times” (March 2010)“The Money Class” (2011)“The Money Class: How to Stand in Your Truth and Create the Future You Deserve” (2012)“The Adventures of Billy & Penny” (2017)“Women & Money: Be Smart Strong and Secure” (2018)“The Ultimate Retirement Guide for 50+” (2020)
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