J.K.Rowling-One of the Richest Self-Made Women in the World

 

Only 14 of the world's 1,011 billionaires are women who made their own money rather than inherited all or part of it. It is a small but impressive group that includes Oprah Winfrey, J.K. Rowling and California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman. Today let’s step into J. K. Rowling’s life and see what helps her “made it” in her career.

Profile:
AKA Joanne Rowling
Born: 31-Jul-1965
Birthplace: Chipping Sodbury, Gloucester, England
Gender: Female
Religion: Anglican/Episcopalian
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Author
Nationality: England
Executive summary: Author of Harry Potter series
Father: Peter Rowling (engineer, Rolls-Royce)
Mother: Anne Volant Rowling (d. 1990 multiple sclerosis)
Sister: Diane Rowling (b. 28-Jun-1967)

 

 

Husband: Jorge Arantes (TV journalist, m. 16-Oct-1992, div. 1995)
Daughter: Jessica Rowling (b. 27-Jul-1993)
Husband: Neil Murray (anaesthesiologist, m. 26-Dec-2002)

Son: David Gordon Rowling Murray (b. 23-Mar-2003)
Daughter: Mackenzie Jean Rowling Murray (b. 23-Jan-2005)
High School: Wyedean Comprehensive, Chepstow, Wales
University: Exeter University

 

 

 

Joanne—called Jo by her family and friends—did well in school, and in her senior year was the top girl in her class. In fact, Rowling has said that as a child she resembled Hermione Granger, Harry's obsessively studious friend, whom she modeled after herself. Although, Rowling notes, "I was neither as clever or as annoying (I hope!)."

At school, Rowling's favorite subjects were English and foreign languages. She particularly enjoyed reading books such as Manxmouse by Paul Gallico, about a creature with a mouse's body, rabbit's ears, and monkey's paws, and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and other books in C. S. Lewis's Narnia series

After graduating from public school with top honors in English, French, and German, Rowling went on to study French at the University of Exeter. She earned her degree in 1986 and over the next several years held a variety of secretarial jobs, including one at a publishing firm, where she had to send out rejection letters to prospective authors.

What she really wanted to do, however, was write. Rowling wrote her first story, Rabbit, about a rabbit with measles, at age five or six. Later, she tried her hand at writing novels, for adults. But she never finished writing any novel before she wrote the Harry Potter books.

Rowling started writing the first Harry Potter book in 1990. The idea for Harry—a lonely, downtrodden 11-year-old orphan who learns he is actually a wizard when he is magically invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry—came to Rowling while she was stuck on a delayed train between Manchester and London. Although she left England a short time later to teach English in Portugal, Rowling continued to flesh out Harry's story.

Rowling returned to Britain in 1993, settling in Edinburgh, Scotland, to be near her sister. Divorced after a brief marriage in Portugal and now with a baby, she suffered through a period of poverty and depression while she struggled to earn a living and take care of her daughter, Jessica. It was during this difficult time that she finally completed Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which was renamed Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for the U.S. edition. When her publisher suggested she add a middle initial to her name, she chose that of her grandmother, Kathleen.

Following its publication in Britain in June 1997, the book quickly became a hit with children and adults alike and won numerous awards, including the British Book Awards' Children's Book of the Year. Rowling always envisioned the book as part of a seven-volume series—one book for every year that Harry spends at Hogwarts—and a new Harry Potter book appeared every year for the next three years. These were Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999), and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000). These were followed by two short books from Harry Potter's world, Quidditch Through the Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2001). The profits from those two went to a British charity, Comic Relief.

Rowling's road to fame and fortune may have been a bit rocky at times, but her success has been sure. In 2000, the 35-year-old author became the highest-earning woman in Britain, netting more than £20.5 million (about $30 m

illion) over the previous year. She received an OBE (Order of the British Empire), a medal of achievement awarded by the queen, in March 2001. At the end of that same year, she married her second husband, Dr. Neil Murray. On March 23, 2003, Rowling's second child, David Gordon Rowling Murray, was born. She gave birth to a baby girl, Mackenzie Jean Rowling Murray, on January 25, 2005.

 

In 2000, Rowling established the Volant Charitable Trust, which uses its annual budget of £5.1 million to combat poverty and social inequality. The fund also gives to organizations that aid children, one parent families, and multiple sclerosis research. Rowling said, "I think you have a moral responsibility when you've been given far more than you need, to do wise things with it and give intelligently."

 

 

I just write what I wanted to write. I write what amuses me. It's totally for myself

It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies, but even more to stand up to your friends

It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.
J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets, 1999

Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain
J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets, 1999

Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.
J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

 

If you're holding out for universal popularity, I'm afraid you will be in this cabin for a very long time.                

It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be.
J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it.                                   

J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
What's comin' will come and we'll meet it when it does.                                                  

J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it.                                         

Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy.
J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

 

 

 

Dark and difficult times lie ahead. Soon we must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy.
J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: The Movie

Age is foolish and forgetful when it underestimates youth.
J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, 2005

When you have seen as much of life as I have, you will not underestimate the power of obsessive love.
J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, 2005