"Serena Williams tried to talk me out of it" - Husband Alexis Ohanian reveals how tennis legend didn't support his women's sports investment

Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian has heralded a new enthusiasm for investing in women's professional sports. The Reddit co-founder, who is estimated by Celebrity Net Worth to be worth $150 million, is a serial investor in several sectors, but women's sports are top of his list. However, Ohanian reveals that at first, his wife and 23-time Major winner Serena Williams was not convinced.

Ohanian, who was once touted by Forbes as "The Mayor of the Internet", has also invested heavily in women's college basketball. He and Serena are the major stakeholders in Angel City FC who play in the National Women's Soccer League. Last year, Ohanian's venture capital firm Seven Seven Six inaugurated the 776 Invitational event which offered record-breaking purses to female track stars.

Ohanian appeared at the Forbes 30/50 Summit in Abu Dhabi to discuss his enthusiasm for women's sports. Posting on his X account, he stressed how far female sports have come since he first invested five years ago:

"5 years ago, the default narrative from investors (and even some previous team owners) was that investing in women's professional sports was a fool's errand. How quickly times have changed."

Ohanian has suggested previously that in the beginning, attracting attention to women's sports was as problematic as building Reddit's early audience. Speaking at the Summit, he suggested that five years ago, putting money into female sport was considered charity and that even his wife needed convincing [0:28 onwards]:

"Serena did try to talk me out of it at first... I think a lot of well-intentioned people were investing in things like women's sports as charity, because they had daughters or granddaughters, and as soon as you compartmentalize anything that way, you're setting a bar on the success. You're setting a restriction for yourself."

The couple is not only interested in women's sports; Serena Williams has a stake in the NFL’s Miami Dolphins. They are also part-owners of the Los Angeles Golf Club, one of six teams taking part in Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy's TGL golfing venture.

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Alexis Ohanian has revolutionized the way US women's sports are regarded by investors

Sportico's Invest in Sports New York - Source: Getty

Having persuaded Serena Williams to invest, the couple ignored the naysayers. The entrepreneur forged ahead with his plans, confident in his business instincts. Ohanian is pleased to report that the $100 million of his own money he invested, has reaped surprising rewards. He said at the aforementioned Summit [2:48 onwards]:

"Everyone, from random people on the internet, to other investors, who I respected, they all told me I was going to lose all my money, and it would never work. I'm very happy to prove them wrong. Angel City is now the most valuable team in the world at $300m and I actually think that sky is the limit here for so many of these women's sports and teams."

The Armenian businessman is clearly committed to female sports. He and Serena Williams have the resources to speculate for the future, and with their daughter, seven-year-old Olympia, showing early signs of promise as a sportswoman, they have the incentive to do so.