With a net worth of ~$260m, Serena Williams is the highest-earning female athlete ever.
After officially announcing her retirement from tennis last week, she’s planning to put that money to use in venture capital, per Fortune.
She founded Serena Ventures…
… in 2014, after learning about the unequal distribution of VC money to women and founders of color.
- 53% of her portfolio companies are women-founded
- 76% of her founders come from underrepresented groups
So far, she’s proved adept at picking winners. Of the 60+ companies she’s funded, 16 are unicorns, including MasterClass, Impossible Foods, and Daily Harvest.
In March…
… Williams raised $111m to invest in founders from diverse backgrounds across a range of sectors, including fintech, edtech, and health and fitness.
- While the fund is led by six women, the firm recently hired its first man, prompting Williams to joke that he’s their first “diversity hire.”
With husband Alexis Ohanian leading two VC firms, Initialized Capital and Seven Seven Six, there’s likely no shortage of deal talk at the dinner table.
