A series of seven fantasy books and eight films based on the Harry Potter novels by British novelist Joanne Rowling, commonly referred to as J.K. Rowling. The books have gained the attention of children and adults worldwide for the better part of a decade, won multiple awards, sold over 400 million copies to become the best-selling book series in history and made J.K. Rowling as respected as her novels are popular.

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But beyond the story of a young orphaned boy living with his aunt and uncle who mistreat him, his discovery that he is a wizard and his quest to overcome the dark wizard and his parents’ killer, Lord Voldemort, the real story is the rags to riches tale that is the life of J.K. Rowling, the author herself. The initial idea of a young boy attending a school of wizardry (Hogwarts, the school Harry attends and hones his wizardry) came to her in 1990 while on a four-hour delayed train trip from Manchester to London and upon reaching her flat she started writing immediately. In December of that year her mother passed away and the detail of Harry’s loss (of his parents) was introduced as she knew how it felt. She moved to Portugal, married a local and they later separated and she was later diagnosed with clinical depression. She finished her manuscript for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in 1995 on an old typewriter and she submitted it to twelve publishing houses. No one wanted it. A year later, an editor from Bloomsbury, a small publishing house in London, gave her a call, a £1,500 advance and the rest, they say, is history.

What about Kenya Power?

Harry Potter is now a global brand worth an estimated $15 billion, and the last four Harry Potter books have consecutively set records as the fastest-selling books in history. The series, totaling 4,195 pages,has been translated, in whole or in part, into 65 languages. Ranked 61^st in the Forbes list of powerful women, she is reported to be worth $ 1 billion, Kshs. 83.174 billion shillings as of yesterday. She is worth 9 billion shillings more than the market capitalization of Equity Bank (Kenya's fastest growing and largest bank by customer base) 264,044 times the market capitalization of listed company Eveready East Africa Limited and Kshs. 256 million shillings short of the net assets of Kenya Power & Lightning Company, our national electricity provider. That little awkward boy with round-framed glasses has made one woman very rich, almost magically.