Fashion, investments and cryptocurrencies: what Serena Williams’ business empire consists of
Serena Williams has announced plans to retire from tennis and focus on other projects. Although her announcement came as a surprise, it makes sense: Williams has excelled not only in sports, but also in business.
Forbes estimates her net worth at $260 million, and although $94 million of that came from court wins, most of it came from business ventures. Consider what is included in her business empire.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion runs venture capital firm Serena Ventures, which raised $111 million from investors earlier this year. Serena Ventures focuses on startups with underrepresented founders (which make up 76% of the portfolio), including women, Hispanics and African Americans.
Since starting her startup career in 2014, Serena Williams has acted as an angel investor for 45 companies including Clubhouse, Impossible Foods and Masterclass. Serena Ventures’ first funding round covered 22 startups, including Chatdesk, foody recipe marketplace and Ours, a virtual couples consultation service.
“I have always been fascinated by technology and loved how it has such a big impact on our lives,” Williams said in an interview with the New York Times. “When I met my husband [Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian], that was our first conversation. That’s how we met. I was talking about investing.”
Serena Williams is one of the most important tennis players and has an extensive collection of collaborations with brands. Companies that have hired her to help sell their product include Gatorade, Nike, Delta Air Lines, Aston Martin, Pepsi, Puma, Beats by Dre, IBM, Intel and Chase Bank.
In 2018, Williams launched the S by Serena clothing line, with most items priced between $50 and $150. This was her second design venture, after opening Aneres in 2004 and eventually closing it.
In 2019, it partnered with KP Sanghvi, a global diamond manufacturer, to launch Serena Williams jewelry, which was originally sold online by Fred Meyers jewelry store and later introduced to other stores.
“One thing that is really important right now is a sophisticated look… A lot of our things look very delicate and delicate, but I wear this for training, and I train, perhaps even harder than the average person,” she commented.
While Serena Williams will no doubt be in demand as a commentator, she may not have the time to do so. Last year, she landed her first deal with Amazon Studios for both scripted and non-scripted projects, including a documentary about her life. She will serve as an executive producer on the series.
“I have many stories to tell, including a continuation of my own, and I look forward to sharing them with the world,” she said at the time.
Meanwhile, her first children’s book, The Adventures of Kai-Kai, is due out on September 27th. The plot revolves around her daughter’s favorite doll, who herself has become a social media star with a whopping 334,000 followers on Instagram.
And besides tennis, she also owns a small stake in the Miami Dolphins football club with her sister Venus.
Williams has also been on the board of directors of SurveyMonkey (since 2017) and stepped down from the board of directors of Poshmark four months ago. She has an interest in cryptocurrencies and is an advisor to the board of blockchain-based fantasy soccer game Sorare.