Serena Williams Net Worth 2024: Creating the Serena Slam and Bagging $290 Million

Serena Williams is a legend on the tennis court and one of the richest athletes.

Serena, the younger of the Williams sisters, retired in 2022, but her business acumen continues to increase her already tremendous fortune.

As of 2024, Serena Williams’ net worth is estimated to be $290 million.

Widely regarded as one of the best athletes and greatest tennis players in the world, Williams was ranked first in singles by the Women’s Tennis Association for a record 3,019 weeks in total.

She has won 23 grand slam women’s tennis titles and is still the only woman in the world to accomplish a Career Golden Slam in singles and doubles – a record that might never be broken.

Serena Williams’ Net Worth: Full Breakdown

Serena Williams’ net worth has been subject to many debates over the years, with sources listing two numbers with a great discrepancy between them – anywhere from $290 million to $450 million.

This is the sum Williams reportedly retired with, and includes her prize money and earnings from endorsement deals. Based on our research, her net worth falls at the $290 million end of the range.

Details of most of her endorsement deals and tennis earnings remain undisclosed, so pinpointing her exact net worth at retirement is impossible.

We also need to account for her earnings through her ventures since retirement – and based on how many investments she has made, this could mean a significant increase in her net worth.

Based on the data we’ve found, we created a detailed breakdown of Serena Williams’ net worth and what it includes:

6 Fun Facts about Serena Williams

1. Career Golden Slam: Serena Williams is the only player, male or female, to achieve a Career Golden Slam in both singles and doubles—winning all four Grand Slams and an Olympic gold medal.
2. Oldest Grand Slam Winner: In 2017, Williams became the oldest woman to win a Grand Slam singles title, achieving this at the age of 35 while pregnant with her daughter.
3. Multilingual: Serena speaks French fluently and often gives her post-match interviews in French when playing at the French Open.
4. Business Mogul: Williams co-owns the Miami Dolphins with her sister Venus, making them the first African American women to have ownership in an NFL team.
5. Record-Breaking Prize Money: Serena holds the record for the highest-earning female athlete in tennis history, earning over $94.8 million in prize money alone.
6. Pop Culture Appearances: She has made appearances in films, TV shows, and even Beyoncé’s Lemonade music video, showing her influence far beyond tennis.

Latest News and Updates

Medical Update: Recently, Serena Williams revealed that she underwent surgery to remove a benign cyst from her neck, which was described as the size of a small grapefruit. She shared this update on social media, assuring her fans that she is doing well post-operation​.

Paris Incident: During the 2024 Olympics in Paris, Serena Williams reportedly faced a controversy when she was denied entry to a Parisian restaurant. The reason for this denial is unclear, and it stirred conversation among her fans and media outlets​.

Early Life and Family

Serena Jameka Williams was born in Saginaw, Michigan, on September 26, 1981. Her parents are Oracene Price and Richard Williams, who had one more daughter together, Serena’s sister Venus.

Serena Williams also has three half-siblings on her mother’s side and at least seven half-siblings on her father’s side. She reportedly has no relationship whatsoever with her paternal siblings.

“Richard Williams is a complete mystery. I was chatting with Richard, and another man was introduced as his son,” said producer Michelle Major. “I casually asked Serena who he was, and that’s when she gave me that response. I wasn’t sure if she was joking — since she has a sharp sense of humor — until I asked other family members, and they confirmed, ‘No, that’s true she doesn’t know him.’ I think that’s how they were protected in their family, to not even have to meet the older siblings.”

Even as a child, Williams knew she would be a tennis player. When she was four years old, the family relocated to Compton, California.

Her parents were her first coaches, with the father taking her to Compton public courts to practice when she was only five years old.

The two sisters were home-schooled by the dad, as well.

Along with coaching from their parents, the Williams sisters were also coached by a Compton man named Richard Williams, who just happened to have the same name as their father.

He later founded The Venus and Serena Williams Tennis Tutorial Academy. The other Richard Williams was actually Serena’s father’s coach back in the day.

“He was one of my best students because he learned so fast,’’ Coach Williams shared with USA Today Sports. “Initially he just came out there and was taking a class and he just got into it. Once he got into it, oh, my God. He was really out there playing.”

The Williams sisters were so great at tennis that they dominated the local courts soon after, so the family moved to West Palm Beach, Florida to train at Rick Macci’s academy.

By 1991, Serena Williams ranked number one among the under-10 players in Florida and had an impressive 46-3 record in the US Tennis Association junior tour.

However, their parents wanted them to focus on their school and enjoy their childhood while they could, so Serena and Venus didn’t participate in major junior tournaments at that point.

In 1995, when Serena was in the ninth grade and trained at Macci’s academy, her father pulled her and her sister out of the academy and took over coaching them at home.

Serena Williams wanted to play her first professional tournament in 1995 at the Bank of the West Classic in Oakland, but the WTA didn’t allow her because she was only 14 years old.

In response, she filed an antitrust lawsuit but withdrew it soon after.

Not long after, in the same year, Williams participated in her first professional match at the Bell Challenge in Quebec, and that’s where it all began – her amazing tennis career.

As for Williams’ education, she graduated from Driftwood Academy in 1999.

Personal Life

The Williams sisters, Serena and Venus Williams, have an amazing bond. Venus Williams is a 7 time Grand Slam champion, and Serena’s initial inspiration to pursue a tennis career. At one point, Serena said the following about Venus Williams:

There would be no Serena if there was no Venus

Life outside the court hasn’t been generous to the Williams sisters. Their half-sister, Yetunde Price, passed away in 2003. Eight years later, Venus Williams was diagnosed with Sjogren’s syndrome.

Not long after, Serena had a health crisis with clotting of arteries called pulmonary embolism, which became even more problematic in 2017 during childbirth.

On the court, the Williams sisters have faced each other 16 times in tournaments with Venus Williams winning five of those matches.

As for her husband, Serena Williams married Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian in 2017. The couple met in Rome when Ohanian sat down next to his future wife during breakfast at the Cavalieri Hotel.

He proposed to her in 2016 and they had an extravagant wedding in New Orleans, with guests including Beyoncé, Kim Kardashian, and Kelly Rowland.

The $1 million wedding ceremony was only part of the luxury – Williams’ wedding dress costing $3.5 million.

In 2017, Williams and Ohanian had their first daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. In 2023, they had their second daughter, Adira River Ohanian.

Serena Williams Net Worth: Revolutionizing Tennis and Becoming a Legend

Williams’ sabbatical from junior tennis didn’t halt her career. She made her professional debut in 1995 and, even though she lost to Annie Miller, in a few years, she was already a tennis star.

Let’s take a look at how her career grew over the years.

The Start of an Incredible Tennis Career

Serena Williams turned professional in 1995 at the Bell Challenge in Quebec City, where she lost to Miller. She won her first-round match at the Ameritech Cup Chicago two years later, but ultimately lost to Lindsay Davenport in the semifinals.

In 1998, Williams defeated Davenport in the quarterfinals of the same tournament, but once again lost in the semifinals, this time to Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.

She reached seven other quarterfinals in the same year but lost them all.

Williams initially won her first professional career title in non-mixed doubles in Oklahoma City, where she played at the US National Indoor Championships with sister Venus.

This is the point where they became the third pair of sisters to win a WTA title.

Williams ended the year with a bang, ranking number 20 in singles, which was the fastest achievement of this milestone in the history of women’s tennis! This would be far from the only record she would break.

Winning the First Major Singles Title

In 1999, Williams won her first major singles title at the US Open.

In February, she defeated Amelie Mauresimo in the final of Paris’ Open Gaz de France, and in March, she won her first WTA 1000 event in California, at the Evert Cup.

The Williams sisters both started strong, claiming their first Grand Slam tournament title in 1999, as well as the first of their 14 doubles Grand Slam titles.

In 2000, at the Sydney Olympics, the Williams sisters claimed the first Olympic Gold in the doubles event, as well.

Rising to Fame and Glory

Serena Williams missed Wimbledon in 1999 because of an injury and returned to the tour two months later. She then defeated Rita Grande at her Fed Cup debut and won her third title at the JPMorgan Chase Open.

At the US Open, Williams became the second African American woman to win a Grand Slam singles tournament after Althea Gibson when she defeated Conchita Martinez, Lindsay Davenport, and Monica Seles.

Together with her sister, Serena also won the doubles event at the tournament and became the fifth woman in the Open Era to win the doubles and singles at the same major event.

By the end of 1999, Williams won a doubles match in the Fed Cup final against Russia and helped the United States win the title. At this point, she was ranked number 4 worldwide in a second full year on the tour!

The First Gold Medal and the Serena Slam

In 2000, Williams couldn’t defend her titles in Indian Wells and Paris, but she did win the Faber Grand Prix in Germany.

She played at the Wimbledon Championships and lost to her sister Venus Williams in the semifinals, but the sisters won the doubles title together.

Serena and Venus Williams also won the doubles gold medal at the Sydney Olympics in September of the same year, while Serena also won the Toyota Princess Cup.

From this point, Serena Williams was totally dominant on the tennis court, winning all four major titles from the 2002 French Open to the 2003 Australian Open.

She then achieved both a non-calendar year Grand Slam, now known as a Serena Slam, and a Career Grand Slam.

What was most impressive about this period was that Williams injured her ankle in the semi-final of the Sydney International tennis tournament in 2002 and despite this injury, she won the Serena Slam!

Injuries and Comeback

In the next few years, Williams suffered from injury.

In 2003, it was hard for the reigning US Open champion to defend her title in Flushing Meadows since she was severely injured. She even had to undergo surgery to repair the partial tear of her left knee’s quadriceps tendon.

In 2006, Serena Williams spoke openly of her injury and shared that she struggled with her mental health.

She took some time away from the WTA tour and limited the number of matches she played, dropping to number 96 in the WTA rankings at the end of the year.

However, only a year later, the tennis legend continued claiming trophies and returned to her previous form. She claimed six more Major titles between 2007 and 2010.

Williams won four Olympic gold medals, out of which three were in women’s doubles, a record that she shares with her sister.

The Williams sisters are the only women in the Open Era who won Olympic gold in singles and doubles.

In 2011, Williams was suffering from pulmonary embolism and had to rest for an entire year before she got back to her tennis career.

The next year, she made yet another remarkable comeback, claiming Olympic Gold and winning eight out of 13 singles majors, as well as her second Serena Slam.

By doing this, Serena Williams once again created history when she broke Steffi Graf’s record for most Grand Slam titles in the Open Era.

Taking a Hiatus Due to Pregnancy

During the 2017 Australian Open, Serena Williams won her 23rd major singles title.

When she became pregnant, she decided to take a break from tennis.

This was a rough period for Williams since she had deep vein thrombosis and suffered from another pulmonary embolism during childbirth, which left her bedridden for over a month.

Successful Comeback

Despite her difficult pregnancy, Williams made another successful comeback in 2018 when she finished as the finalist in the Wimbledon Championships, as well as the US Open.

At the US Open, a penalty cost her the game, after which she started an argument with the chair umpire.

Even though Williams was unable to equal Margaret Court’s all-time record for most titles at Grand Slam tournaments, she spent 402 weeks in the top two of the WTA rankings.

Playing Her Final Match

In August 2022, Serena Williams announced that she would be retiring from tennis and played her final match at the 2022 US Open. She reached the third round before she left tennis forever.

Serena Williams’ Success on the Tennis Court

Serena Williams achieved the impossible on the tennis court, making her one of the best athletes in the sport.

In her career, she has achieved the following:

• Won 23 Grand Slam singles titles
• The only player to have won the Wimbledon, Australian Open, and US Open six times
• The most recent female to hold all four major singles titles simultaneously and win the Surface Slam, which she did in 2015
• Spent a record 319 weeks as the number-one singles player worldwide
• Won the Olympic Gold four times in her career
• The most recent player, with her sister Venus, to have held all four major women’s doubles titles, which they did in 2009 and 2010
• Won the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year four times in 2003, 2010, 2016, and 2018
• The highest-paid woman athlete in 2016, when she reportedly earned $29 million. In 2017, she won $27 million in prize money and endorsements, according to Forbes.
• Joint-third on an all-time list for total major titles in the Open Era

Williams’ Earnings from Tennis

Between 2022 and 2023, Serena Williams was the 49th highest-paid athlete and the only woman to make the top 50 on Forbes’ list, earning $45.3 million from endorsement deals and tennis alone.

When she retired from the sport, she reportedly had between $290 million and $450 million in career gains, according to different sources.

While we don’t know her exact net worth at the time of retirement, what we do know is that an incredible $94.8 million out of her net worth was generated from on-court prize money.

Serena Williams’ Philanthropic Endeavors

Serena Williams is an important name in the world of charity, having partnered with many organizations to support a variety of causes. She runs the Serena Williams Foundation and, in 2008, as part of the organization’s work, she helped fund and construct the Serena Williams Secondary School in Kenya.

The Serena Williams Foundation provides university scholarships for underprivileged students in the US and has partnered with Helping Hands Jamaica to build the Salt Marsh Primary School in Trelawny Parish.

In 2003, the Avon Foundation awarded Williams a Celebrity Role Model Award for her contribution to fighting breast cancer.

That same year, she won the Young Heroes Award from Big Brothers, Big Sisters. A year later, she won the Family Circle and Prudent Financial Player Who Makes a Difference award.

In 2011, Serena Williams became an International Goodwill Ambassador with UNICEF, and she later helped launch the UNICEF Schools for Asia campaign.

She and her sisters are contributors to a foundation for young people who want to learn tennis called First Serve Miami and have collaborated on a variety of philanthropic projects through their mutual fund, the Williams Sisters Fund.

In their childhood home in Compton, the sisters founded a Yetunde Price Resource Center, in honor of their late sister.

In 2014, Serena Williams started hosting an annual charity run she named The Serena Williams Ultimate Fun Run to support that fund.

In 2015, the tennis legend returned to Indian Wells in partnership with the Equal Justice Initiative, an organization that provides legal representation to people who have been denied a fair trial. Two years later, she became an ambassador for the Allstate Foundation’s Purple Purse project, which provides finances to domestic abuse victims.

Serena Williams Net Worth: Other Ventures & Investments

Serena Williams decided to retire to focus on her family and business. Today, she earns millions from different ventures and has a lot invested in real estate.

When it comes to her earnings, the two factors that contribute most to her wealth are her tennis career prize money and her incredible endorsement deals.

Endorsements

Williams has signed some highly profitable endorsement deals over the years, including:

• $12 million endorsement deal with Puma in 1999
• $60 million endorsement deal with Nike for six years starting from 2004
• $40 million endorsement deal with Nike (extended in 2013)

During her tennis career, Williams continued to work with Nike. The company designed footwear and custom clothing for the tennis legend, and the largest building on their Portland campus is the Serena Williams Building.

 

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While these are her biggest endorsements, Williams has partnered with a large number of other brands, though the details of those contracts remain undisclosed.

To date, she has partnered with:

• Aston Martin
• SurveyMonkey
• AT&T
• AbbVie
• Beats by Dre
• Bumble
• Block Inc
• Chase Bank
• Delta Air Lines
• Ford Motor
• Gucci
• IBM
• Walt Disney Company

Serena’s Venture Capital Firm

While the bulk of her wealth comes from endorsement deals and tennis prize money, Serena Williams is now adding to her fortune through her venture capital firm Serena Ventures, founded in 2014.

The venture capital firm raised $111 million for early-stage venture capital following her retirement from tennis in 2022.

The company set out with the mission to invest in startups whose “perspectives and innovations level the playing field for women and people of color”.

In a TikTok post, Williams shared that she has invested in 85 companies through Serena Ventures in total. “My mission after tennis is investing in us! Women, people of color, and diversity,” she added.

@serena

My mission after tennis is investing in us! Women, people of color and diversity. But it did not start after tennis. It started during. I just do it full time now. Here is how I started. #foryou #fyp #makeup #business #investing #venturecapital #serenawilliams #serenaventures #momsoftiktok

♬ original sound – Serenawilliams

Other Investments and Businesses

Even before she retired from professional tennis, Williams began investing in different companies and founding her own businesses. Today, she is an incredibly successful entrepreneur.

In 2009, Serena and Venus Williams became minority owners of the Miami Dolphins when they acquired a small stake in the team for an undisclosed sum.

This made them the first African American women to hold ownership in an NFL franchise.

In 2020, Serena Williams was said to have become part of an investor group that was awarded a franchise in the National Women’s Soccer League. This is the highest level of women’s sport in the US, and Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian is one of the lead investors in the group.

In 2022, Serena Williams co-founded Will Perform, a line of topical pain relief and body care products for athletes’ sports recovery.

In addition to this, she started her own line of clothing called S by Serena, and her jewelry line Serena Williams Jewelry.

More recently, Williams launched her beauty brand called Wyn Beauty by Serena Williams, with products available online and at Ulta, the beauty retailer.

In addition to these businesses, Serena Williams has a multimedia company called Nine Two Six Productions.

The company is working on the soccer documentary Copa 71, which will be executive-produced by Serena and Venus Williams.

The sisters are also the executive producers of the Oscar-nominated film King Richard, telling the story of their father.

Authorship

In addition to being one of the greatest female tennis players, Serena Williams is also an author.

In September 2022, she released a children’s book titled The Adventures of Qai Qai. She has also published several tennis books, including a biography My Life: Queen of the Court.

Together with Venus Williams, Serena published Venus & Serena: Serving from the Hip: 10 Rules for Living, Loving, and Winning. The book was co-written with Hilary Beard.

In 2009, Williams released another autobiography titled On the Line.

Filmography

Williams transformed women’s tennis from an early age. Her fame has landed her movie roles, roles in TV series, and even in music videos.

Her filmography includes:

• 2001: The Simpsons: Tennis the Menace, as herself (voiceover)
• 2002: My Wife and Kids: Crouching Mother, Hidden Father, as Miss Wiggins
• 2003: Street Time: Fly Girl, as Meeka Hayes
• 2004: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Brotherhood, as Chloe Spiers
• 2004: The Division: Lost and Found, as Jennifer Davis
• 2005: ER: Two Ships, as Alice Watson
• 2005: All of Us: Not So Wonderful News
• 2005: America’s Next Top Model: The Girl with the Worst Photo in History
• 2005-2007: Punk’d in 3 episodes
• 2007: Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Day of the Black Sun
• 2011: Keeping Up with the Kardashians: Kim’s Fairytale Wedding
• 2012: Drop Dead Diva: Rigged, as Kelly Stevens
• 2016: Lemonade music video with Beyonce
• 2018: Ocean’s 8
• 2023: Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie as Yoga Yvette (voiceover)

Several documentaries have been made about Serena Williams, as well, including:

• 2012: Venus and Serena
• 2016: Serena: The Other Side of Greatness
• 2018: Being Serena

Real Estate

As we mentioned, real estate is another major asset in Serena Williams’ net worth.

The famed tennis player owns a 14,500-square-foot property in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, with her husband Ohanian. The mansion is worth around $5.7 million.

Other Assets

As one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Serena Williams is worth a fortune, and she lives a luxurious life thanks to it.

In addition to her expensive property, she owns a Lincoln Continental and an Aston Martin Vanquish, among other vehicles.

These two are worth a combined $400,000+.

What Can We Learn from Serena Williams’ Story?

Williams played brilliantly on the tennis court, won gold medals and Grand Slams, and earned a fortune from prize money to add to her net worth.

Many people would retire altogether with such a fortune, but Williams’ journey hasn’t stopped at retirement.

Serena Williams’ life story is a masterclass in determination, resilience, and strategic thinking. She faced numerous setbacks, including multiple serious injuries, health issues, and losses – even the greatest athlete will lose sometimes.

However, she consistently made remarkable comebacks and learned over time, and her resilience in the face of adversity demonstrates the importance of perseverance and the ability to adapt.

Williams didn’t rely solely on her tennis career for her wealth. She has diversified her earnings through various endorsement deals and business ventures.

From her fashion line S by Serena to her venture capital firm Serena Ventures, Williams has shown the importance of creating multiple income streams, an approach that ensures financial stability and growth.

On top of that, Williams has made many smart business decisions, investing in startups through Serena Ventures and focusing on companies that promote inclusion and diversity.

Her strategic investments and business initiatives highlight the importance of using one’s resources and platform to support meaningful causes – while also generating financial returns.

Even with her busy career and numerous business ventures, Williams has emphasized the importance of family over and over again.

Her decision to retire from tennis to focus on her family underscores the significance of work-life balance.

This lesson is crucial in today’s fast-paced world, where balancing professional success with personal well-being is essential.