How much is Serena Williams worth?
| Net Worth: | $240 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Professional Tennis Player |
| Date of Birth: | September 26, 1981 (age 41) |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Height: | 5 ft 8 in (1.75 m) |
About Serena Williams
Serena Williams has won more major titles than any other active player, male or female. She is one of the highest ranked female US tennis players, along with her sister Venus Williams, and has been ranked No.1 five times in her career. With 23 Grand Slam wins, she has won more than any other player in history, after Margaret Court and closely followed by Rafael Nadal.
Serena came to professional tennis by a route that was different than almost any other player, aside from her sister. She got her start on the public courts of Compton, California. She began playing at age four coached by her parents Richard Williams and Oracene Price. The family moved from Compton, California, to West Palm Beach, Florida when she was 9 years old and there she and her sister, Venus Williams, attended Rick Macci’s tennis academy. Growing up, Serena and Venus had spent much less time on the junior circuit than most of their peers, but they were uniquely equipped to excel on their own, as each had in the other a practice partner who was also a best friend sharing the same experience and the same extraordinary athleticism.
Their father, Richard, who had originally been coaching his two daughters decided to pull them out of Rick Macci’s tennis academy and coach them full time. Serena competed in her first professional event at age 13 but lost to Annie Miller in the first round. As a single player, she struggled through multiple Grand Slam tournaments in 1998, but went on to win the mixed doubles at Wimbledon that same year with her sister, Venus. By the end of the year, Serena was ranked No. 20 as a singles player. She shot up the rankings, a year later, in 1999, when she won the US Open during her second year as a professional player. She ended the year ranked No. 4.
After a knee injury, Serena missed the French Open and later lost to her sister at Wimbledon. They then played together and won a doubles title that same year. As doubles, the two sisters continued their success at the Australian Open in 2001, becoming the fifth doubles team to win all four Grand Slam women’s doubles titles. Over the next few years Serena’s career would be beset by injury. She was also stunned by the sudden murder of her older half-sister and, through that time, her playing suffered. She made a marked recovery in 2002, winning Wimbledon, the US Open and the French Open. Then in 2003, she won Wimbledon again and the Australian Open.
By 2006, despite her winning streaks, she again suffered injuries that kept her out of many tournaments. Serena competed in just four tournaments and ended the year of 2006 ranked No. 95 in the world, her lowest ranking in nine years. After having being sidelined and considered that her career may be over due to injuries, a win at the US Open in 2008, and wins at the Australian Open in 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2010 solidified her spot as a top women’s tennis player.
In 2011, Serena again suffered health problems, a CT scan showed she had a pulmonary embolism and several small blood clots that had traveled to her lungs. She was put on an anticoagulant heparin drip. There was talk about the longevity of her career, but again, Serena demonstrated mind over matter when she continued to win major titles, including winning a women’s single gold medal at the 2012 Olympic Games. Her streak continued winning at the US Open in 2012, the French, Australian, and US Opens in 2013 as well as Wimbledon in 2015. In 2017, Serena gave birth to Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. and her career when she returned was very hit and miss. In 2020, she won her first title since her maternity leave. King Richard, a film starring Will Smith as Serena’s father, began to take up more of her time and she spent much of 2022 promoting it. She also wrote an article in Vogue magazine in which she wrote about ‘evolving away’ from tennis after the US Open, indicating her retirement.
Serena’s Total Net Worth
After winning her 17th Grand Slam singles title in 2012, Serena Williams surpassed $50 million in career prize money. In 2013, she became the first woman to win more than $10 million in a season, having earned $12.3 million in prize winnings that year. In 2016, she was the world’s highest paid female athlete with $29 million in earnings, including from he endorsements. In 2017, she earned $27 million.
In the 2000s, Serena had a special line with Puma apparel and footwear, in 2004, she signed a $40 million dollar endorsement deal with Nike. Her total prize money is $94.6 million, and in total, including her endorsements, she has earned estimated total career income of around $325 million dollars. That makes Serena Williams the highest-earning female athlete of all time.
Of that amount, around $16-30 million is expected to have been paid in business related costs. There are costs including Serena’s physical therapy, travel and expenses, but also the negotiation of contracts. The remainder, $302 million, will have been taxed at a rate of around 45% as Serena Williams has been residing between the states of California and Florida.
She bought a Mediterranean mansion north of Miami in 2017 for $5.7 million, however she has spent most of her career residing in her Beverly Hills home in California. After tax, it is estimated that her career earnings are at around $166.1 million dollars, having paid $135.9 million dollars in taxes.
Serena Williams married Alexis Ohanian in 2017 and they remain together. They have one child together, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., and their personal lives have been peaceful. The couple have many celebrity friends, including Anna Wintour, Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland and Kim Kardashian who attended their wedding ceremony. When she is not competing, Serena has spent time working with and donating to several charities. She donates a lot of her time to helping others, especially at-risk youth.
Serena has her own line of designer clothes, a line of handbags and jewelry, and a line of nail products. Her brand called “Aneres”, is her name spelled backwards. Through her Serena Ventures, she has invested in over 60 startups. One of her most recent investments has been into Karat, which aims to help more Black software engineers get hired according to Forbes.
In her personal life, Serena has likely spent $7-10 million dollars of her career earnings, including her donations, personal staff salaries and legal costs. She also probably possesses assets valued at around $2-3 million, not including investment assets. Some of her career income will have been converted into investment assets, her returns from which are being calculated to be in the region of at $59-100 million dollars.
Therefore, it is estimated that Serena Williams has a net worth of around $240 million dollars. Of course, it may be a little higher.
Summing-Up
Serena Williams is generally considered the greatest tennis player of all time, not to mention the greatest female athlete. She has has won the Laureus “Sportswoman of the Year” award four times. She has won the Grand Slam singles title twenty-three times, the second-most of all time after Margaret Court. She is the highest-earning woman athlete of all time and she was ranked 28 on Forbes‘ “World’s Highest-Paid Athletes” list, in 2021.
