4 Tennis Stars Who Launched Their Own Successful Businesses
Ranking among the world’s highest-paid athletes, tennis pros are uniquely poised to venture into the world of entrepreneurship, having acquired an assortment of highly desirable soft and hard skills over the course of their careers. In this article, we look at four tennis pros who amassed significant fortunes through their second careers as entrepreneurs.
1. Rafael Nadal
As part of his mission to give back to the sport that gave him everything, Rafael Nadal has established four sports academies in Mexico, Kuwait, Greece, and his hometown of Mallorca. Having recently been appointed as Saudi Arabia’s ambassador for tennis, the 22-time Grand Slam winner has pledged to launch an academy in that country, too.
In 2022, Rafael Nadal collaborated with Melia Hotels to launch ZEL, a lifestyle hotel brand. The tennis legend has been equally successful off the court as on it, having invested in several companies that have returned an impressive USD $12.3 million in profits.
In addition to sports academies and luxury hospitality, Nadal has invested in the real estate, renewable energy, and brokerage sectors. He owns a 33.3% stake in Mabel Capital, which is involved in producing several Netflix series. In addition, he owns restaurants across Europe and is developing luxury apartments in Madrid.
2. Serena Williams
Embarking on a lucrative second career in entrepreneurship, Serena Williams is backing a growing number of product categories that pose the potential to generate significant returns. Many celebrities have their own product lines these days, and professional athletes are no exception. The key benefit of releasing a range of products lies in the ability of sports stars to earn greater profits compared with endorsing other brands, enabling athletes to retain control over the end-to-end process and exercise their creative license, launching and promoting products as they see fit.
The US beauty business is booming, with an estimated value of $374.2 billion in 2023. For high-profile athletes like Serena Williams, cosmetics is an ideal market. Having recently launched her own beauty company, Wyn Beauty, the Olympic gold medalist is evolving away from sport, unveiling a limited launch of products in a wide range of shade-inclusive skin tones for people of color.
As Serena Williams explained in an interview with Vogue, traveling 20 years ago, before 40 shades of foundation existed, she could not rely on makeup artists to have her color. Instead, she learned how to apply her own makeup, having never found a tint she truly loved and that actually worked.
In addition to her cosmetics business, Serena Williams has backed ventures in a range of other industries. Having earned $95 million throughout her tennis career, she has amassed 14 companies in the clothing, jewelry, entertainment, and sports recovery industries, including several “unicorn” startups valued at over $1 billion.
3. Venus Williams
Like her sister, Venus Williams has enjoyed an illustrious career on the court, racking up more than $42 million in prize money since turning pro in 1994. She went on to significantly boost her net worth through a series of lucrative endorsements and businesses, making history as the top-earning female tennis player in 2019 and earning a cool $5.9 million in that year alone.
A staunch advocate for pay equality in the tennis world, Venus Williams played an integral role in ensuring that female players earned equal prize money in 2007. This landmark shift in pro tennis policy set a historic precedent, ensuring that both female and male players received the same amount of prize money for the first time. Her advocacy not only increased financial incentives for female players, but also raised the profile and visibility of women’s tennis globally.
In addition to her impressive sponsorship portfolio, including a groundbreaking $40 million contract with Reebok, Venus Williams launched the EleVen clothing line, showcasing the brand’s unique designs during her appearances at Wimbledon. Heralded for her business acumen, Venus Williams also founded the plant-based protein company Happy Viking, as well as the commercial and residential design firm, VStarr.
Having been recognized with a Power of Women Award from Variety, Venus Williams was also honored with the CARE Impact Award for Gender Equality. Moreover, she ranked on Forbes’ Celebrity 100 list.
4. Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova is not only one of the world’s top tennis players, but a brilliant businesswoman in her own right. She has an estimated net worth of $195 million. Touted by Forbes as a “marketing machine,” she has partnered with numerous multinational companies, including the likes of Nike and Porsche.
Maria Sharapova launched her candy business, Sugarpova, in 2013. Thanks to distribution deals with Kroger, the world’s largest grocery store, sales have exploded.
In addition to her candy company, Sharapova has invested in a range of other markets, including the sunscreen maker Supergoop, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and an app called Charly that enables users to message celebrities. Maria Sharapova is currently seeking out new ways to provide the female-to-female mentorship she feels that she missed out in in both tennis and business, with the goal helping to inspire future generations of female tennis stars and business leaders.
