News - November 17, 2022

$20M Gained in 2022: How Did Serena Williams Do it?

Oyetoun Olabisi November 17, 2022

4 min read

Serena Williams is one of the most successful former tennis players. The success of the 23-time Grand Slam tennis champion made her a multimillionaire and the first athlete to be featured on Forbes’ annual list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women in 2019.

However, the former tennis champion has more than just sport as her income stream. Although her entrepreneurial side was not entirely made apparent till her retirement from the pitch, she is a natural entrepreneur and investor.

Williams has a diversified portfolio through her Venture capitalist firm, Serena Venture. In March 2022, the venture raised $111 million from investors with a portfolio of 60 startups. Some of these startups included SendWave, MasterClass and DailyHarvest. The company has also collaborated with institutional investors. In October, the company, alongside other institutional investors, invested $3.3 million in Stears Inc. in a seed round.

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Her exploits within the business space and promotion of women and minority-led startups further endorsed her as a businesswoman. In her column for CNN, Serena Williams explains why she invests in black women entrepreneurs.

She said, “Coming up in a predominately White male sport, I have been underestimated and underpaid throughout my career. As a venture capitalist investing in early-stage startups, I see myself in the Black female founders who are often counted out right from the start.”

Her diversified portfolio further increased her net worth by 12% in 2022.

How Serena Williams made $20 million in 2022

Serena Williams, the founder of Serene Ventures’ net worth, increased from the $240 million recorded in 2021 to $260 million in 2022. She saw her net worth increase by $20 million at the beginning of the year. This increased by $35 million from 2019 when she became the first athlete featured on Forbes’ annual list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women.

Williams earned some of the profit from earnings in different endorsements with renowned brands such as U.S. sportswear giant Nike and leading investment bank JPMorgan Chase. She generated some from investments through her venture Capital company — Serena Ventures.

Regarding her company, in an interview, she said, “In my life, the balance has been slowly shifting toward Serena Ventures. Every morning, I’m so excited to walk downstairs to my office, jump onto Zooms, and start reviewing decks of companies we’re considering investing in.”