The reason behind why Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian chose to make the biggest donation in UVA's women's basketball history

Entreprenur and philanthropist Alexis Ohanian, who is married to Serena Williams, made headlines earlier this week when he announced a "multi-year transformational gift" for the University of Virginia women's basketball program. Ohanian is best known for co-founding the massively popular messaging board Reddit.

Recently on X (formerly Twitter), the entrepreneur shed some light on his decision to inject big money into the program.

Although the exact sum has not been revealed, UVA has asserted that Ohanian's gift would allow the college to be a "premier destination for female student-athletes while addressing the financial and competitive demands of this new era of college athletics." The University of Virginia is represented by the Virginia Cavaliers women's basketball team in the NCAA Division I.

"Started @REDDIT at @UVA and after $RDDT IPO the dollars are coming back home to CVille (Charlottesville)," Ohanian explained on X.

An alumnus of the University of Virginia, Ohanian graduated in 2005, the same year Reddit was founded. The message board was conceived by him and his college roommate, Steve Huffman.

The duo sold Reddit to Condé Nast Publications' parent company Advance Publications on October 31, 2006, for around $10 million. Since departing from Reddit, the 41-year-old has started several ventures. At present, Ohanian's net worth is estimated at a whopping $150 million (via Celebrity Net Worth).

Ohanian made the revelation while replying to an individual named Mike Lewis, who noted that hiis gift would "elevate UVA’s WBB recruiting/retention of championship-level talent."

Alexis Ohanian is an avid fan of women's basketball, and recently lavished praise on WNBA's Caitlin Clark on being named TIME's Athlete of the Year.

"Starting Angel City and seeing the wave of investment in women's sports really has been inspiring," Ohanian noted (via ESPN). "Women's basketball has popped up constantly on my radar, and lots of folks have been asking me about it."

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The work being done by Alexis Ohanian to uplift women's sports

Alexis Ohanian this year debuted 'Athlos' which seeks to revolutionize women's track and field events in the US - Source: Getty

Alexis Ohanian has shown a keen interest in investing in women's sports, becoming the lead investor in Angel City FC, a new National Women's Soccer League franchise, in 2020. Earlier this year, Ohanian sold his stake in Angel City to Disney CEO Bob Iger and his wife Willow Bay for $250 million.

In 2022, he started the 776 Foundation to fund builders & organizations whose work will support marginalized people. Ohanian's 776 Foundation debuted the first edition of 'Athlos', a professional, female-only track and field meeting series, in September this year.