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Serena Williams Lands The Forbes Cover As First Athlete On Richest Self-Made Women List

Her $225 million fortune is helping her make history.

It goes without saying that Serena Williams is a winner, but in case you weren’t sure, the 23-time Grand Slam champion has been named one of Forbes’ “Richest Self-Made Women” thanks to her estimated fortune of $225 million!

FYI: Serena is the first athlete ever to make Forbes’ annual list of the World’s Richest Self-Made Women!

Besides being a beauty on the cover of Forbes’ June Special 2019 issue, the tennis icon and busy mom of 22-month-old cutie Olympia, chatted with the magazine about her life as a boss.

It turns out, Serena has quietly been investing money into 34 startups over the past five years. 

In April, the 37-year-old opened her investment entity, Serena Ventures, to focus on funding companies run by women and minorities. Thus far, out of an estimated $6 million total invested, 60% of her investments have gone to WOC/POC—and of course, herself! 

“I want to be a part of it,” Serena said to Forbes. “I want to be in the infrastructure. I want to be the brand, instead of just being the face.”

ICYMI: In May 2018, launched S by Serena, a clothing line with items priced under $200, funded by her own money. 

“I was thinking of this the wrong way. I had to invest in myself,” she shared after deciding to no longer wanted to wait for someone to fund a company for her to design clothing.

With a New York Fashion Week show and celebrity friends including Meghan Markle spotted sporting her fashion, success was inevitable!

As for investing in others, Serena is careful after taking a loss of $250,000 before Serena Ventures. “I learned you can’t overspend, but I also learned that I love seed investing.” 

Even with a loss, she’s clearly learned from her mistakes and is making major coins in investing. 

“It’s fun to get in there. I don’t gamble. I don’t jump off buildings,” she shared. “I’m the most non-taking-a-chance kind of a person, but I felt like seed was where we wanted to be.”

Of course, she has help from her Reddit co-founder husband, Alexis Ohanian, whom Forbes estimates is worth $70 million on his own.

“I’ve been really leaning on Alexis,” Serena said. “I’d like to call us a more modern business family,” she added about their joint love for investing. 

“She is determined to be great at everything she does,” Alexis expressed. 

As for what’s next for the successful businesswoman? This year, Serena plans to launch an S by Serena jewelry line with a beauty line in the works for 2020.

“I want to create a brand that has longevity, kind of like my career,” she explained. “It’s not fancy, it’s not here, it’s not out, it’s not trendy, it’s a staple, like my tennis game.”

According to Serena Ventures, their current portfolio value is at more than $10 million and double the initial investment. That's some serious #BlackGirlMagic!

 

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