The Oprah effect has continued to work its magic for Weight Watchers, with the company reporting 1 million more members in a year and revenue up by one-fifth.
Weight Watchers’ shares are worth more than 13 times their value three years ago – shortly before Oprah Winfrey bought 10% of the company and agreed to be its ambassador. The increase is probably the biggest example of the Oprah effect – the former talkshow host and media mogul’s power to boost sales of any product she supports.
It is a transformation that has made Winfrey, already worth about $3bn (£2.3bn), another fortune. Her stake, bought for $43m, had risen to more than $400m even after she sold one-quarter of her shares in March.
In January 2015, Weight Watchers was in the doldrums and its management could not understand why. It was the new year and Americans were meant to be signing up to beat the flab. But nothing happened.
Membership of the company, founded more than 50 years earlier, had been falling for a year even as obesity in the US was rising to record levels. What was wrong?
For more read the full of article at The Guardian
