Rowling became a literary sensation in 1999 with the skyrocketing success of her first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. By 2000, the first three novels of the series had taken in $480 million in three years, with over 35 million copies in print in 35 languages. Today, Rowling is Great Britain’s wealthiest woman—topping the Queen. She is thought to be worth $1 billion.