Suze Orman

Suze Orman
Orman at the Time 100 Gala, May 4, 2010.
Born	Susan Lynn Orman (1951-06-05) June 5, 1951 (age 65) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Residence	Florida, New York City, and San Francisco
Nationality	American
Education	Bachelor of Arts in social work Honorary Doctorate University of Illinois, Honorary Doctorate Bentley University
Alma mater	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1976)
Occupation	Author, television personality, motivational speaker, businesswoman, investor
Known for	The Suze Orman Show
Spouse(s)	Kathy Travis (m. 2010)
Website	[1]
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Susan Lynn "Suze" Orman (born June 5, 1951) is an American author, financial advisor, motivational speaker, and television host. Orman was born in Chicago and pursued a degree in social work. She worked as a financial advisor for Merrill Lynch. In 1983 she became the vice-president of investments at Prudential Bache Securities. In 1987, she founded the Suze Orman Financial Group. Her program The Suze Orman Show began airing on CNBC in 2002. In 2006 she won a Gracie Award for Outstanding Program Host on The Suze Orman Show on CNBC. She has written several books on the topic of personal finance.

Orman was born on the South Side of Chicago in 1951 to Jewish parents of Russian and Romanian origin. Her mother worked as a secretary for a local rabbi, while her immigrant father from Kiev worked in a chicken factory and managed his Morry's delicatessen in Hyde Park.

She attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and received a B.A. in social work in 1976. In 2009, Orman received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

After finishing school, Orman moved to Berkeley, California, and she worked as a waitress. In 1980, she borrowed $52,000 from friends and wellwishers to open a restaurant.

Still an investment novice, she invested that money through a representative at Merrill Lynch, who promptly lost the entire investment trading options. Later, Orman trained as an account executive for Merrill Lynch, where she learned that the type of investment her broker put her in was not suitable for her needs, as option trading is considered a high-risk but high-reward investment suitable only for high-net worth individuals. It was explained to her that since he was the highest producing representative in the office, his actions went unchecked. She simultaneously and successfully sued Merrill Lynch while she was still employed at the firm (it is illegal to fire employees solely for filing a lawsuit against them) for a prior investment loss of $50,000. After completing her training with Merrill Lynch, she remained at the firm until 1983 when she left to become vice-president of investments at Prudential Bache Securities.