Photo: Jim Smeal/BEImages. It's official. The studio that hosted countless celebrities and wowed the world with a 276-car giveaway is no more. According to Business Insider, Oprah sold Harpo Studios to a Chicago developer for a cool $32 million smackers. But, don't look for the bulldozer just yet. The studio will remain intact for another two years, which will be leased back to Harpo to produce programming for the OWN network.
So, what is to become of the roughly 200 people who work at the 3.5-acre studio campus? That's as uncertain as Tom Cruise's sanity when he leapt up on the talk-show queen's couch. And, with Winfrey's Chicago properties continuing to bite the dust, her local presence is slowly dwindling away. Gone, but never forgotten. Even if the space becomes condos, at least the Oprah Winfrey Way street sign outside the studios will be a constant reminder of one of the most influential people in Chicago — and the world. (Business Insider)