Billionaire Celebrity – JK Rowling

"There's always room for a story that can transport people to another place. "

A quote by JK Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series! Who wouldn’t have heard of her?

Do you know that she is the first billionaire from writing books and even more, is now richer than the Queen of England?

Harry Potter's magic has indeed touched a huge audience of all ages around the globe, it is not surprising that the novels have been translated into more than 60 languages, topped the best-selling lists all over the world and won her numerous awards in which some of them are  the Hugo Award, the Bram Stoker Award, the Whitbread Award for Best Children's Book as well as many other honours. 

Born on July 31st, 1965 in England, she has the ultimate passion for writing. Her first story, titled Rabbit was written at the age or five or six about a rabbit with measles. It is very interesting to note that the best-known British author internationally wanted to be a ballerina once before, but did not because of her thought that it was embarrassing due to her fatness.

She worked as a bilingual secretary before, under the claim of her parents that it would be a great career. However, she describes herself as the worst and disorganized secretary ever, as she actually wrote story ideas instead of taking notes during meetings! She was an English teacher and French teacher too. Her road to fame and fortune have been quite rocky and challenging. After her marriage ended in divorce, she suffered from poverty and depression while struggling to earn a living and raise her daughter alone. It was during this difficult time that she completed the first book of the Harry Potter series, in restaurants or cafes where they could stay warm.

Being a generous billionaire, she has supported a great number of charities and causes which include the Volant Charitable Trust, Maggie’s Centres for Cancer Care, UK Labour Party, Children’s High Level Group and also Multiple Sclerosis Society Scotland.