Grand Slam wins made her the best female tennis player in history, but her off-court ventures are even more lucrative. Here’s what Serena is worth in 2025 after her Superbowl appearance.

With 133.5 million viewers, Kendrick Lamar’s performance at Superbowl LIX was the most-watched Halftime Show in history, but “Not Like Us,” his provocative diss track against Drake, wasn’t the best part of the show — that honor went to a surprise appearance by tennis legend Serena Williams.

Calling it “the best 10 seconds of my life,” Williams explained on Instagram that Lamar, who is also a Compton, California native, had seen her crip walk dance at the 2012 Olympics and invited her to perform with him in New Orleans. “I’m like Super Bowl? Are you serious?… I knew my winning dance after the @olympics would pay off one day. End of story.”

Others, like ESPN commentator Steven A. Smith, speculated that she was still thinking about Drake, whom she dated on and off from 2011 and 2015, even going so far to suggest that if he was Williams’ husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, he’d leave her, rhetorically asking, “What you worried about him for and you’re with me?”

Turns out Ohanian, who has been married to the legendary athlete since 2017, is enthusiastically Team Serena, even taking to X to voice his support:

Just another day in the life of the G.O.A.T.

Who is Serena Williams?

Widely regarded as the best female tennis player in history as well as the all-time highest-earning female athlete, Williams revolutionized the game with her powerful athleticism and, in the process, opened the doors to athletes of color. She has 23 Grand Slam singles titles to her name, 14 Grand Slam doubles with her sister, Venus Williams, and four Olympic gold medals.

In addition, Williams is an ace at business with her own venture capital firm, Serena Ventures, a multimedia company, Nine Two Six Productions, and a healthcare brand, Will Perform. Together, they have expanded her wealth by over 50% since 2019, according to Forbes.

A style star and cultural icon, Williams has made appearances on everything from Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” video to E!’s “Keeping up with the Kardashians” to the 2023 smash film “Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie.” She owns a global real estate portfolio and has launched her own clothing and tennis lines — Nike even named a building in honor.

It’s a wonder how she can keep track of everything and raise her two daughters, Alexis Olympia and Adira River, in the process — but if anyone can do it, the “Queen of the Court” can.

What is Serena Williams’ net worth in 2025?

According to Forbes, as of February 2025, Williams’ net worth stands at an impressive $340 million, earning her the #97 spot on the publication’s 2024 list of “America’s Self-Made Women.”

The thing is, Williams retired from tennis in 2022, pocketing a total of $95 million in prize money. That means she’s made nearly three times as much, or $245 million, off the court.

And they say tennis is a game of strategy …

Williams’ net worth with Alexis Ohanian

It’s probably not fair to call Williams the breadwinner in the Ohanian family, but let’s face it — she trounces her husband when it comes to wealth.

The last time Forbes profiled Ohanian’s net worth was in 2019, valuing him at $70 million. He co-created Reddit with his college roommate, Steve Huffman, selling Reddit to Condé Nast in 2005 and pocketing just $10 million in the process.

Both would later return to the company in leading roles: Ohanian served as executive chairman from 2014 to 2020.

In addition, he was a partner at the famed venture capital incubator Y Combinator (part of the firm’s “first batch” in 2005, along with OpenAI’s Sam Altman); he helped launch the travel website Hipmunk in 2010, and in 2021, he created his own VC firm, Seven Seven Six, which invests in early-stage companies with an emphasis on equity.

This includes women’s sports and ventures by Colin Kaepernick, the NFL player made famous for protesting against racial inequality and police brutality by taking a knee during the National Anthem.

Williams and Ohanian’s combined net worth is $410 million.

Serena Williams’ early life

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No one ever thought two black girls with beads and braids from Compton would shatter stereotypes in tennis, but just like Tiger Woods did with golf, the Williams sisters opened doors to what had been a predominantly white sport — and became very rich in the process.

Venus Williams, who herself has a net worth of $95 million, was born on June 17, 1980; Serena was born on September 26, 1981. The close-knit sisters have said they were a “huge influence on each other,” with Serena calling her big sister “my rock.”

Their father, Richard Williams, was a former sharecropper from Louisiana. He and Oracene Price, his wife, taught themselves how to play tennis by reading books and watching videos. When Serena was three years old, the young family moved from Saginaw, Michigan to Compton, California — Richard was inspired by the example of Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X and believed that the tough neighborhood would make his children strong.

Serena and Venus began to play on run-down courts with Richard as their coach — the sisters were even homeschooled so as to maximize their practice time.

When Serena was nine, the family relocated again, to West Palm Beach, Florida, so that she and her sister could attend Rick Macci’s famed tennis academy. Macci is credited for coaching other top talent like Andy Roddick, Maria Sharapova, and Jennifer Capriati.

Williams’ professional debut came in 1995, at the age of 14, at a qualifying event in Quebec City, where she was soundly defeated by Annie Miller. Just two years later, Williams would be the 99th-ranked player in the world.

Overcoming discrimination

But her journey was never easy. Because of her strong stature and powerful physique, people made fun of Serena’s appearance, ridiculing her breast size and comparing the Williams sisters’ tennis game to “watching monkeys at the zoo.” One commentator said that if the Williams sisters posed naked, it would be for a publication like National Geographic and not Playboy.

Venus turned professional in 1994; by 2000, she had won her first Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon.

Set to play in the Indian Wells Tennis Tournament in 2001, Venus withdrew at the last minute, citing tendinitis. Fans erupted in jeers, accusing Richard of match-fixing and spewing racial slurs at the family, including the N-word. Although Serena won her match against Kim Clijsters, she said the incident haunted her for years to come.

Serena boycotted that tournament until 2015, but the derogatory caricatures and online hate continued throughout her career. However, Serena vowed to rise above it all, putting it best in 2006, when she told reporters, “I don’t dwell on other people. I know what I have to do. You have to be happy with what you’re doing.”