Suze Orman

About Suze Orman

Suze Orman (born Susan Lynn Orman on (5 June, 1951) is an American financial advisor, writer, and television personality.

She is currently the host of "The Suze Orman Show" on CNBC. She has written six consecutive New York Times Best Sellers. Orman has written, co-produced, and hosted six PBS specials based on her New York Times bestselling books, and is the single most successful fundraiser in the history of public television. She is also the top seller on QVC, the leading home shopping network. In 2004 and 2006 Orman won two daytime Emmy Awards in the category of Outstanding Service Show Host for her PBS Specials. Over her television career Orman has won more Gracie awards (5) than anyone in the 33 year history of these awards. In 2008, she was selected by TIME Magazine as one of the most influential people in the world.

Orman was born on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, in 1951 to Russian-Jewish immigrants Ann and Morry Orman. Orman came from a working class background and has said that she did not "grow up with money." She was an undergraduate at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, from which she holds a B.A. in social work. In 1973, she and some friends moved to Berkeley, California, and she lived, for three months in a van on Hearst Avenue. She soon became a waitress at the Buttercup Bakery on College Avenue. In 1980, a longtime customer gave Orman a loan of $50,000 to help her fulfill her dream of opening her own restaurant. Orman invested the money at Merrill Lynch, but four months later was broke again, after she was swindled by her stockbroker.