Serena Williams: Net Worth 2024, Family, and Career

Serena Williams' Net Worth in 2024

Serena Jameka Williams' role in revolutionizing tennis has cemented her place as a legend of the sport and as one of the richest athletes in the world. The younger Williams' sister retired with $450 million in career earnings, which includes her on-court prize money of $94.8 million. It is the most by any women's tennis player.

Besides her career prize money, Serena has earned over $350 million through her off-court endorsements. In 2023, the former world No. 1 player had racked up a net worth of $260 million, seeing a rise of 20 million in her net worth of $240 million in 2022. However, as of 2024, Forbes records a remarkable 30 million rise in Serena Williams' net worth, making her one of the wealthiest women with a net worth of $290 million.

After leading the court for 27 years and making an unforgettable mark on women's tennis, Serena Williams is now en route to conquer the business world. Williams' venture capital fund, Serena Ventures, has invested in and supports multiple upcoming and innovative firms, approximately 60. Some of those ventures are futuristic, like Tonal, which combines fitness at home with AI. On the other hand, her venture has also invested in firms like Zigazoo that aim at making social media safe and fun for children in the technologically advancing world.

Serena Williams' early life and family background

The 23-time Grand Slam champion hails from a humble background. Serena Williams was born on September 26, 1981, in Saginaw, Michigan, USA to Oracene Price and Richard Williams. However, the foundation of her aggressive tennis background was laid on the courts of Compton, California, with her sister Venus Williams. In addition to the support of Serena Williams' parents and sister, she also had the unconditional support of her other siblings, Lyndrea Price, Isha Price, and the late Yetunde Price.

A glimpse of their childhood was shared in the Oscar-nominated movie King Richard. Serena Williams' father and mother were her first coaches. Richard took her to public courts in Compton to play tennis at a very young age, 5 years old. Serena's homeschooling gave her leverage, allowing her to spend more hours on the court. After dominating the courts locally, the Williams sisters moved to Florida to train under the aegis of Rick Macci at his academy.

Richard and Oracene wanted Venus and Serena to focus on school and enjoy their childhood. Hence, Serena and Venus did not participate in any major junior tournaments for a subsequent period. Despite skipping junior tournaments, like her younger sister, Venus Williams also has enjoyed an illustrious tennis career. She has won 7 Grand Slam titles, with five of those coming at Wimbledon.

 Serena Williams’ connection with her sister, Venus Williams 

Serena and her sister, Venus Williams, have an inspiring bond. Venus, her elder sister and the 7 time Grand Slam champion, paved the way for Serena in the sport. Serena describes it the best when she says in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, "There would be no Serena if there was no Venus." Not only did their bond win them 14 major grand slam doubles titles together and overall 22 doubles titles, but it also prepped and boosted them to face life's challenges.  

Although life on the court had been generous for the sisters, off the court, it has been another story. The sisters saw the passing away of their half-sister, Yetunde Price, in 2003. In 2011, Venus was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder, Sjogren’s syndrome. Not only that, but Serena also went through a health crisis with pulmonary embolism, clotting of arteries that carry blood to the lungs, which if it had remained undetected, could have been life-threatening. Later in 2017, during childbirth, the clotting of pulmonary arteries again posed challenges for Serena, however, she sailed through it well. With all the trying times that the sisters have been through together on and off the court, Serena justly and unhesitatingly called her sister "My Rock."

The Williams sisters are unconditional supporters of one another. On court, Serena and Venus faced each other 16 times in major tournaments and the elder sister won 5 of those matches before Serena went on to become the ultimate champion, ranking #1 for 319 weeks. If Serena became the champion of tennis, Venus would go on to become one of the heart. After losing to Serena in the 2002 French Open, Venus was so delighted with her sister's win that she was found getting off the podium and retrieving her camera to stand with the press photographers to take pictures of the moment.

Serena Williams' professional career

After a sabbatical from junior tennis, Serena Williams made her professional debut in 1995, at the Bell Challenge in Quebec City. But it wasn't until 1999 that the 'Queen of the Court' started her reign. Serena claimed her first Grand Slam title at the US Open in 1999. That same year, the Williams sisters also claimed the 1st of their 14 doubles Grand Slam titles. It was at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 that the Williams sisters claimed their 1st Olympic Gold, in the doubles event.

Although Serena achieved groundbreaking results at the beginning of her career, consistency eluded the American tennis legend for the next few years. In 2002, she injured her ankle in the semi-final of the Sydney International tennis tournament. Despite the injury, she won the 'SERENA SLAM', starting from the 2002 French Open to the Australian Open in 2003.

The year 2003 proved to be relatively hard for the then-reigning US Open champion. She was unable to defend her title in Flushing Meadows due to a severe injury and had to undergo surgery to repair the partial tear of the quadriceps tendon in her left knee. This halted the successful reign of Serena, who had claimed 5 of the last 6 Grand Slams from 2002 to 2003.

In 2006, Serena opened up about her injury and mental health struggles after a shocking third-round exit at the Australian Open. Consequently, she stepped away from the WTA Tour, playing only a few matches and dropping to no.95 in the WTA year-end rankings. However, the 23-time Grand Slam champion made a terrific comeback in 2007, winning the Australian Open.

Serena continued her reign and claimed 6 more Major titles from 2007 to 2010 before suffering from Pulmonary Embolism in 2011. She had to rest for a year before making another remarkable comeback in 2012, claiming the Wimbledon and US Open titles. From 2012 to 2017, under the aegis of Patrick Mouratoglou, she added 10 more Major titles to her record. By doing that, she created history by breaking Steffi Graf's record of holding the most Grand Slam titles in the Open Era.

Her impressive run came to a halt after she claimed her 23rd Major title at the Australian Open in 2017. When Williams claimed her last Grand Slam title, she was 8 weeks pregnant. It was a tough journey to motherhood for Serena, due to DVT (deep vein thrombosis), which was also the cause of her pulmonary embolism. During childbirth, Williams suffered from another pulmonary embolism, which left her bedridden for weeks. Despite such adversities, she made a successful comeback in 2018, finishing as the finalist in the Wimbledon Championships and the US Open.

Post her entry into motherhood, Serena went on to play in four Grand Slam finals. However, luck evaded her, as she was unable to equal the all-time record for Most Grand Slam titles, currently held by Margaret Court. Along with her record-breaking Major titles, Serena has also spent an incredible 402 weeks in the top 2 of the WTA rankings (319 weeks at No.1 & 83 weeks at No.2). The US Open 2022 was Serena's last Grand Slam tournament. Under the guidance of her new coach, she reached the third round before bowing out of her home Grand Slam for the last time.

 Serena Williams’ honors and awards 

In this era, Serena's name is synonymous with Women's Tennis. Serena Williams' achievements are vast and memorable as she has won numerous accolades, awards, and honors. It would take a book to mention all of them. However, here are a few of the highlights of her 27- year-long career.

She has the most Grand Slam wins (23) in the Open Era and is in the second position overall. Serena is the only player to have won the Australian Open (7), Wimbledon (7), and US Open (6) six times and also won Slams 3 times after saving the match point. She pulled off this accolated in AO 2003, AO 2005, and Wimbledon 2009, respectively. In the 2012 Wimbledon, Serena's constant, dynamic, and accurate serves were off the charts, making her deliver 102 aces in a single tournament, the most ever recorded. She has not only stood for 319 weeks at the rank #1 in the WTA list, but she has been also the most ranked #1 for consecutive weeks, 186 weeks, a record that she shares with Steffi Graf. Not only that, she also shares the record of holding 4 Slams simultaneously on two occasions.

Serena didn't only battle it out in the Grand Slams, but also moved to the world's largest sports stage, the Olympics, to make her mark. She won gold medals in both single and double matches, which she played alongside her sister Venus, in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Serena later goes on to win 2 more gold medals in 2008 and 2012, respectively.

For Serena, the list of her accolades doesn't see an ending. At the age of 35, Serena goes on to make the record of winning a Slam (2017 AO) and holding the rank of World No. 1, the oldest player ever in tennis to make such a record. She concludes her accolades the best in her essay for Elle magazine, "(W)inning is now a desire and no longer a need."

Off Court as well Serena has achieved many awards and honours. One of them being for her fashion on and off court. For her fashion statements, she was honored with the Council of Fashion Dеsignеrs of America Fashion Award (CFDA) in 2023. Not only is she an icon on the tennis court but also in the fashion industry.

All you need to know about Serena Williams' husband

Serena Williams' husband is a renowned tech entrepreneur and the co-founder of Reddit, Alexis Kerry Ohanian. He founded the organization 776 to fight inequality worldwide. Besides all this, he is also a business dad and a paternity leave advocate.

The couple met spontaneously in Rome when Ohanian sat down next to Williams during breakfast at the Cavalieri Hotel in 2015. Subsequently, after dating for a few months, the couple got engaged in 2016 and had their first child in 2017 before tying the knot. The couple got married in a 'Beauty and the Beast' themed wedding ceremony in New Orleans, Louisiana. Apart from the $1 million wedding ceremony, Serena's wedding outfit and gems cost a whopping $3.5 million.

Ohanian has stood by Serena through thick and thin; from being a supportive husband to supporting his wife from stands and walking the red carpet. Above all, Ohanian's dedication to his family is evident from his simple Sunday tradition: cooking pancakes for the family. Before meeting Ohanian, Williams was rumored to have dated the renowned rapper, Drake. The Canadian rapper, last year, included Ohanian in his song, Middle of the Ocean. A line calling Ohanian a groupie received widespread criticism.

What were Serena Williams' life-threatening experiences?

Serena suffered through two life-threatening incidents, once back in 2011 and another during childbirth. The underlying cause for these episodes was a condition called pulmonary embolism.

In 2011, during an Oscar party, the 6-time US Open champion had difficulty breathing and went for a check-up on the insistence of the physiotherapist present there. It was revealed that Serena had blood clots in both lungs, which left her incapacitated for almost a year.

Similarly, during childbirth in 2017, Pulmonary Embolism again threatened her life and left her bedridden for 6 weeks.

Serena Williams’ pregnancy complications 

Serena Williams enjoys being a mother, and in 2017, she liked the experience of being pregnant. She delighted in the "positive attention" she got from the press. Serena highlighted how this experience was "different." However, her glee turned into a crisis when her feet started to feel numb soon after childbirth. She insisted on getting herself tested and it was found that her long-standing condition of pulmonary embolism resurfaced. The diagnosis resulted in Williams having 4 surgeries, one being a c-section.

During her tests, Serena remembers feeling anxious, "They were trying to talk to me, and all I could think was, 'I’m dying, I’m dying. Oh my God.'” However, after 6 weeks on the road to recovery, both Serena and her child, Olympia, were healthy and out of any health risks. 

Complete details on Serena Williams' life post-maternity

Life has been anything but easy for the 23-time Grand Slam champion post-pregnancy. She was bedridden for 6 weeks after the birth of Olympia. Post her return to tennis after giving birth, Serena marked her comeback at the French Open in her iconic black catsuit. It inspired new reforms in the WTA's dress code policy like the introduction of a special ranking rule and no penalization on wearing leggings or compression shorts without skirts, dresses, or shorts over them.

After returning to the tennis circuit in 2018, Serena made it to 4 Grand Slam finals and 2 semifinals. However, her 24th Grand Slam title eluded her. Serena was not alone in her journey to parenthood. Her husband, the Reddit co-founder, took paternity leave to support his wife and spend time with his newborn.

Serena Williams' daughters: Olympia and Adira River

Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian welcomed their first child, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. on Sept 1, 2017, in West Palm Beach Florida. What's special about Olympia's name is the fact that her initials (AO) are the same as the Australian Open, which her mom won. Olympia got her own Instagram account when she was just a few weeks old. Since then, her parents have shared her fun-filled moments with their fans and followers.

Olympia's doll, or rather her daughter, Qai-Qai, is a black doll made by Serena for Olympia.

Furthermore, on many occasions, Olympia has been the mirror image of her mom Serena, twinning in glamorous outfits. Particularly, she was seen supporting Serena by dressing up in her mother's miniature outfits at the 2022 US Open!

After Olympia, Serena and Alexis welcomed another baby girl, Adira River. Unlike the traumatic time Williams had to suffer through the last time, she had a safe childbirth with Adira. Ohanian was his usual effusive self and wrote an emotional note welcoming his second daughter.

Luckily, this time wasn't traumatic for the Queen of the Court. After they revealed that they had expanded their family by one, Williams and Ohanian have been all smiles as they keep posting family pictures along with their two daughters. Serena Williams' children have a six-year gap between them, with Olympia born in 2017, and Adira in 2023.  

Serena Williams' business ventures and contracts

The Queen of the Court, after ending her reign on the WTA Tour, started building her kingdom in the business world. Her venture capital firm, Serena Ventures, raised $111 million for an early-stage venture capital fund to support founders hailing from underserved communities in the tech industry.

Serena Ventures backs rising startups such as the weight-loss app Noom, the crypto company Nestcoin Holding Ltd., and Nude Barre, which produces body wear for all. As an Angel Investor, it supports a multitude of apps, like Billie, Tonal, and Propel, among others.

Serena has also been a fashion designer, an actress, and an investor. Along with Serena Ventures, she has founded a clothing company, S by Serena, that focuses on bringing her unique fashion sense to the public.

Serena Williams' off-court engagements

Serena has tried her hands at writing. She published many tennis books, including her biography, My Life: Queen of the Court, and more recently, a children's book titled 'The Adventures of Qai Qai'. In addition to the above involvements, Serena has a minority stake in the NFL team, Miami Dolphins, and the NWSL team, Angel City FC.

Serena has been heavily involved in social change throughout her career. The former World Number 1 has been an ardent philanthropist and can often be seen working with various charities.

In 2008, Williams provided aid to fund the construction of a secondary school in Kenya. In 2016, she partnered with Helping Hands Jamaica to build the Salt Marsh Primary School for Jamaican youth.

She is involved in many other charitable organizations. In 2017, she also became the ambassador for the Allstate Foundation's Purple Purse Project, which helps those facing domestic abuse.

Becoming a mother for the second time has not deterred Williams from continuing her off-court ventures. Recently, she began a new multimedia company which will be called, Nine Two Six Productions. Their primary goal is to elevate female and diverse voices through content that reaches far and wide. The multimedia company has already undertaken multiple projects and aims to release the content soon.

Serena Williams' endorsements

Almost 99% of Williams? total earnings are accrued from endorsements. With renowned endorsement partners, including, AbbVie, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Audemars Piguet, Block Inc, DirecTV, Ford, Gatorade, Gucci, Hanesbrands, Nike, Subway, Tonal, Wilson Sporting Goods, etc.

However, Williams is no longer associated with one of her first endorsement partners, Puma, as she signed a huge deal with their rival, Nike.

Why did Serena Williams want to move away from Tennis?

As Serena Williams doesn't like the word 'retirement', she chose to 'evolve away' from tennis to focus on other aspects of her life. According to the star player, tennis was no longer the sole reason she woke up in the mornings, ever since Olympia's birth. She wanted to grow the family, as Olympia wanted a baby brother or sister - and now their family has grown as they welcomed a second child in 2023!

She also wants to focus on her other commitment, Serena Ventures, which she started a few years ago. Despite her whole life revolving around tennis, the 23-time Grand Slam champion decided to move away from it. Serena Williams' retirement was announced via a Vogue magazine article that also featured a first-person post.

Serena Williams career statistics

During her incredible 27-year reign on the WTA Tour, the American tennis legend claimed 7 Australian Open titles, 3 French Open titles, 7 Wimbledon Championships, and 6 US Open titles. In addition to her 23 singles Major titles, she has also won 14 doubles Grand Slams, all with her sister, Venus Williams, as her partner. Serena Williams also claimed 2 mixed doubles titles, with Max Mirnyi as her partner. Overall, she has won 73 singles titles.

Serena Williams: Match controversies and rivalries

In a celebrated career spanning over two decades, Serena Williams had numerous on-court rivalries with several top WTA stars. During the initial stages of her career, Serena consistently faced and won against Venus Williams, Justine Henin, and Jennifer Capriati.

Despite being a one-sided rivalry, Serena's duels against Maria Sharapova garnered huge fan attention ever since they first met in the finals of the 2004 Wimbledon Championships. Sharapova also won later that year in the WTA Finals against the American legend. But the American dominated every other match since then, taking their head-to-head tally to 20-2 in her favor.

Others like Caroline Wozniacki, Simona Halep, and Victoria Azarenka have also given tough competition to Serena Williams over the years.?Being a highly competitive athlete, Serena Williams got into a fair few controversies over the years. During the 2009 US Open semi-final against Kim Clijsters, the American was fined for yelling at the lineswoman over a foot fault.

Two years later, at the same venue, Serena played Samantha Stosur in the final. There, the American was given a point penalty by the chair umpire for hindrance during a baseline exchange. Serena went on to lose the match in the end but had long arguments with the chair umpire.

Her most recent controversy was during the finals of the 2018 US Open against Naomi Osaka. Serena was initially given a warning for on-court coaching. As it continued, she was given a second warning and a point penalty after she smashed a racket. Serena was constantly in an argument with the chair umpire, Carlos Ramos, who decided to give a game penalty to the American for verbal abuse. Eventually, Osaka won her first-ever Grand Slam title at the US Open.

Will Smith's Oscar movie 'King Richard'

The famous Oscar-winning movie, King Richard, portrayed the life of Serena's father, Richard Williams. It focused on the long and tough journey of the Williams sisters' parents in laying a strong foundation for their tennis career. The movie showed how 'King' Richard, portrayed by Will Smith, drafted their career plans even before they were born.

Are Serena Williams and Meghan Markle friends?

Being a big tennis star, one gets to meet several famous individuals in other fields. For Williams, one such person is Meghan Markle, actress in 'Suits' and the Duchess of Sussex. Since first meeting over a decade ago, the two have been good friends. Their conversations, both in public and on social media, show a sense of sisterhood and togetherness. Despite their hectic schedules, Williams and Markle have always made time to encourage one another.

Although the two are quite public with their friendship on social media, Williams is also friends with Kim Kardashian. She and Williams have also been friends for almost half a decade. The Queen of the Court also has a good bond with singer and actress, Selena Gomez. The former number 1 even invested heavily in the mental health start-up of Gomez.

Expensive things owned by Serena Williams

Serena Williams lives in a $5.7 million mansion in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Alexis and Serena have a 14,500-square-foot Spanish Mediterranean-style home that supports Serena's vision. The American tennis legend certainly has been a fashion icon, with her sophisticated and luxurious style. Her beautiful $3.5 million wedding gown, was certainly proof of it.

Additionally, Serena also has a sophisticated collection of luxury cars which includes, an Aston Martin Vanquish worth $315,000, a Lincoln Continental, worth $116,000, and a Mini Cooper S worth approximately $40,000, among many others. The multimillionaire athlete also loves taking trips in private jets.

Serena Williams' playing style

Serena Williams, standing at the height of 5' 9'', is an aggressive baseliner with her forehand and serve being the primary weapons in her arsenal. These two aspects of her game never faded away, and she has always relied on them whenever she was in trouble on the court. Just like every other great player, Serena is exceptional in defense as well. She is agile and tries to put as many balls in play as possible, which shows her fighting spirit.

Serena Williams and therapy

In the 2018 US Open final debacle, Serena was involved in a heated argument with the chair umpire. The aftermath of the on-court situation culminated in the 6-time US Open champion suffering from poor mental health. Hence, she resorted to therapy. After the controversial incident, she apologized to the newly crowned US Open champion, Naomi Osaka.

Serena Williams’ philosophy 

Serena Williams has had a 27-year-long career that not only requires physical stamina and endurance but also mental strength and a balanced mindset. According to her the game of tennis is 70% mental and, for her, the training of her mind started very early from the time her father coached her in the early days. Richard Williams encouraged his daughters to not lose focus even when they heard a gunshot down the street. He demanded complete focus and concentration. This mindset made a deep impact on her career and approach to life.

The theme of having a sharp and focused mindset continued as she turned pro. Serena in one of her interviews admitted to having the mentality of 'never give up' and staying focused in the present to harness the best of the moment. She also confessed to regulating herself emotionally and grounding herself in the "present" after losing a set. This mentality can be best seen in AO 2003, AO 2005, and Wimbledon 2009 when she won the Slams after saving the match point.

In another interview, this unyielding attitude was on full display,“...I just never give up. I fight to the end." and continued to emphasize how she doesn't like to take that fighting spirit for granted. According to her, this mindset is "not for sale. It has to be innate.”

Along with being focused and not backing down, Serena didn't allow other's opinions and restrictive beliefs to hold her back on the court. She not only demonstrated body positivity but also encouraged other women to do the same. She said in another interview, “Think of all the girls who could become top athletes but quit sports because they’re afraid of having too many defined muscles and being made fun of or called unattractive.”

After her tennis career, Serena has now "evolved" into philanthropy/business. Now she takes all the lessons that she earned on the court, to her business ventures. Like her aggressive plays, Serena approaches business from the same mindset and doesn't hold herself back from any high-risk investments. For her, well-strategized high-risk equates to higher rewards. Serena begins this mindset in her business approach as well by continuously investing in innovative businesses. Although she admits to having been sharp, focused, dynamic, and aggressive on court and business, in an interview with CBS Evening News she acknowledges that in business, she has to keep a more diplomatic demeanor.

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