Which money? UA's or XM's?

Which way? The loss that XM incurred, by not attracting new subscribers after hiring her? Or the possibility of paid UA endorsement money given to Oprah instead of using that money to improve the quality of life for Employees and/or PAX?

Unless UA simply traded free use of their jet to Oprah and their audience for a cross-promotional plug, which I doubt, I'd say they had to pay her $ to get her endorsement. As people say, she's a shrewd businesswoman. She believes that her name attracts people to the things she endorses (book club, health & fitness gurus), so UA might have thought the same thing would work for them. But it's a lot easier to convince someone to go buy a book than buy a plane ticket. If AA was already her endorsed airline of choice, then UA would most likely have had to sweeten the pot to make her switch over her endorsement.