Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian shares why he invested millions in women's sports beyond being a 'proud girl dad' & 'married to the GOAT'

Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian has voiced encouragement for his alma mater University of Virginia's women's basketball team, the Virginia Cavaliers. He explained his long-standing support for women athletes with the message.

Ohanian made a $1 million donation, the largest in the program's history, to the Virginia Cavaliers in December 2024. He was also present during the team's match against Duke Blue Devils on Sunday, January 12. He took to X to share his confidence in the team and his allegiance to UVA where he co-founded Reddit.

"Women's sports is just great. Period. Five years ago, I was rage-tweeting about how undervalued the women’s sports industry is. And started investing millions to back that up: @weareangelcity @offseasonfc @athlos," Serena Williams' husband wrote.

"Now, I couldn’t be more thrilled to contribute to its growing momentum by supporting @UVAWomensHoops. I registered http://reddit.com at @UVA in Alderman Library and thanks to a strong IPO, I wanna complete the circle"

A short clip of Ohanian at the John Paul Jones Arena accompanied the tweet.

"Yes, proud girl dad. Yes, married to the GOAT. But the thing that drives my motivation here is celebrating, rewarding and investing in excellence," he said.

Serena Williams' husband spoke highly of his alma mater before closing the clip. The Reddit co-founder is a majority stakeholder in the NWSL team Angel City FC and has co-produced the reality series Offseason FC. He also organized the all-women track-and-field event Athlos NY via his venture capital firm Seven Seven Six.

---

Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian says there's no Reddit without UVA

Serena Williams with husband Alexis Ohanian and daughter Olympia at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Image: Getty

Serena Wiliams' husband Alexis Ohanian reconnected with the University of Virginia where he graduated in 2005. He double majored in history and business commerce from UVA's McIntire School of Commerce. In the above clip, he reflected on his college days and credited his alma mater for inspiring him to co-found Reddit:

"At the end of the day, theres no Reddit without UVA. I named Reddit in Alderman Library. Put two and two together and what better place to put some dollars to work than the UVA?" [0:08]

On a lighter note, Ohanian commented on Virginia Cavalier's game with Duke Blue Devils.

"I wish the ref had made some more calls today, because it was getting a little sloppy out there in the second half," Serena Williams' husband said.

The university also presented Ohanian with a framed jersey bearing his name and the number '1'.