A Look at Serena Williams’ Multimillion-Dollar Business Portfolio

Widely accepted as the greatest women’s tennis player of all time, Serena Williams has revolutionized the game since she made her debut in the 1990s. Having amassed 23 Grand Slam titles, Williams learned her trade on the public courts in Compton, California. She went on to shatter records, dominating the sport.

Serena Jameka Williams is the daughter of Oracene Price and Richard Williams. The youngest of five sisters, she was born in Saginaw, Michigan on September 26, 1981. Her sister, Venus, is also a four-time Olympic gold medalist. Both players have been ranked by the Women’s Tennis Association as №1 in the world in both singles and doubles. With a little over a year’s age difference between the sisters, Venus Williams being the elder, a professional rivalry has been noted between them in major competitions, although they nonetheless remain very close, often watching each other’s matches.

An Indelible Impact on the Tennis World

As African-Americans, Venus and Serena Williams made an indelible impact on the world of professional tennis, which up until their emergence had been a predominantly white sport. Their strength and athleticism combined with their colorful, fashionable styles attracted a huge amount of media attention. The sisters were credited with ushering in a new power era in women’s tennis characterized by dizzyingly fast serves and commanding groundstrokes. Competing as doubles partners, the duo won 14 Grand Slam Doubles titles together in total.

Serena Williams won her first Grand Slam early on in her career at the 1999 US Open. With a staggering 23 Grand Slam wins under her belt, she ranks as the second most prolific Grand Slam single title winner of all time, beaten only by Margaret Court at 24, and outperforming all men’s tennis players, including Rafael Nadal who won 22, Novak Djokovic at 21, and Roger Federer at 20.

Endeavors in Entrepreneurship and Venture Capitalism

While Serena Williams is best known for her achievements on the court, her less widely reported breakthroughs in the world of entrepreneurship and venture capitalism are arguably even more impressive.

Serena Williams and her sisters grew up in a poor community where diverse residents were marginalized and struggled to move on and achieve any kind of success. Serena Williams attributes this to a lack of Black role models to inspire African-American children. Since making a name for themselves, Serena and Venus Williams have fought tirelessly to address the imbalance. Serena Williams has devoted a great deal of her time to speaking with underprivileged families in the Black community, as well as donating millions of dollars to fund the creation of sports facilities in underserved areas.

Savvy Investments

Throughout her career as a champion tennis player, Serena Williams amassed a reported $95 million in prize money. With a reported a reported net worth of $290 million today, according to Forbes, the tennis star has grown her wealth significantly, thanks to a series of savvy investments.

Since retiring from professional sport in 2022, Serena Williams has set to work launching her own businesses and backing others in a range of different industries, including sports recovery, entertainment, clothing, makeup, and jewelry. An avid investor, Williams has invested in 85 companies in total, 14 of which have achieved unicorn status as startups with a value of more than $1 billion.

In a video posted on TikTok, Serena Williams revealed that her investment strategy hinged on diversity and backing businesses owned by women and people of color. 79% of the portfolio of Serena Ventures, her venture capital fund, consists of businesses led by underrepresented founders, with 54% of those businesses led by women.

Launched Wyn Beauty

An entrepreneur in her own right, Williams launched Wyn Beauty by Serena Williams in April 2024, selling products online and through the beauty retailer Ulta. In addition to the $94 million she earned in prize money throughout her extraordinary career in women’s tennis, Serena Williams also earned millions more from endorsement deals, business ventures, and investments.

In her TikTok video, Serena Williams explained that after she learned that less than 2% of all VC money goes to women, she decided then and there that she wanted to raise a fund to address the balance. In addition to discovering that women miss out on trillions of dollars of VC funding, Serena Williams learned that even less was going to people of color, meaning that Black women faced an infinitesimal chance of raising the money they needed to transform a promising idea into a profitable business.

Nurturing Startups

With more than 85 companies in her investment portfolio today, Serena Williams is nurturing startups across a variety of different sectors. Notable companies that form part of her portfolio include Parfait, an AI-driven platform for customizable wig products, and the healthcare startup, HUED, both of which were founded by Black women.

Motivated by a glaring lack of VC funding directed toward certain demographics, Serena Williams embarked on a mission to drive change. Seventy-nine percent of Serena Ventures founders are underrepresented, including 11% Latino, 47% Black, and 54% women. By backing marginalized entrepreneurs, Serena Williams is not only leveling the playing field and making the world of business more diverse, but also generating impressive yields and growing her net worth.