As the older sister of Serena Williams, fans have been interested in Venus Williams‘ net worth (and how it compares to Serena’s) for decades.
Venus, the daughter of Richard Williams and Oracene Price, was born on June 17, 1980, in Lynnewood, California. When she was 7 years old, Tony Chesta, a local tennis player, noticed Venus’ talent in the sport and advised her to pursue it. Three years later, when she was 10 years old, Venus’ family moved from Compton, California, to West Palm Beach, Florida, so she and Serena could train under Rick Macci, a tennis coach who trained players like Andy Roddick and Maria Sharapova. However, Venus and Serena weren’t trained by Macci long. When she was 11 years old, Venus and her sister were removed from Macci’s tennis academy by their father, Richard, who took over as their coach at home.
Serena and Venus’ childhood and their father, who served as their coach for most of their tennis careers, was the inspiration for the 2021 movie, King Richard, which starred Will Smith as Richard and Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton as Venus and Serena respectively. “There’s a scene where my dad says…” Serena told Entertainment Weekly in 2021 about King Richard. “Well, Will says that you’re doing this for every Black girl. And that really hit me in a different way because obviously at the time we didn’t know.” Serena also explained to EW why she and Venus wanted their father to be the focus of the movie, instead of them.“There are so many ways to tell this story. But I think telling it through my dad was the best way because he had the idea. He knew how to do it,” she said.
There’s no doubt that Venus and Serena are two of the greatest tennis players of all time. But what is Venus Williams‘ net worth and how does it compare to her younger sister, Serena? Read on for what we know about Venus Williams’ net worth and how much she’s made in her tennis career.
How much does Venus Williams make from tennis?
How much does Venus Williams make from tennis? Since she joined the Women’s Tennis Association 1994, Venus has won seven Grand Slam titles and five Olympic medals (four gold and one silver.) In February 2002, Venus became the first female Black tennis player in the Open Era to rank number one in singles. (She was second of all time after Althea Gibson in the 1950s.) According to the WTA, Venus has made $42,280,541 in prize money as of November 2021, which makes her second in all-time earnings—next to her younger sister, Serena Williams, who has made a career total of $94,518,971 in prize money.
In 2005, Venus made headlines when she met with French Open officials to advocate for WTA players to earn the same prize money as male players. A year later, she wrote an op-ed in the London Times that became crucial to bringing pay parity at Wimbledon.
“For me it was simple and clear; it was about standing up for what I believed was right,” Venus told Forbes in 2020. “Tennis has given me so much opportunity in life, including a platform, so when the opportunity came to fight for women across the sport it was an easy decision.” She continued, “I spoke up for both myself and people everywhere who were facing, or will face, the same kind of injustice in their lives. I’m glad it was able to create a ripple effect and set a precedent. So much positive change has happened since then, and so much positive change is still needed, but I’m happy I was able to do my part and will continue to do so until it doesn’t need to be a conversation anymore.”
After her work, the French Open started awarding equal prize money to its male and female winners in 2006 and continued with their entire tournament a year later. Wimbledon also announced in 2007 that it would award equal prize money to men and women as a result of Venus’ advocacy. “It’s incredible to see how the conversations around equal pay have evolved over the years—it’s a global issue that has finally become a global movement,” she said. “But the fact that it is still even a conversation means there is still work to be done. Pay disparity is just one element of the overarching issue of inequality, which so many people are too familiar with.” She continued, “I will be really happy when the differences between men and women don’t have to be a discussion anymore, and everyone is loved and respected for the person they are.”
What is Venus Williams’ net worth?
So…what is Venus Williams net worth? Venus is worth $95 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth, which is about half of the net worth of her sister, Serena Williams, who is worth $220 million. Along with the $42 million she’s made in tennis prize money, Venus’ net worth also includes the money she’s made as the Chief Executive Officer of her own interior design firm, V Starr Interiors, which has designed sets of talk shows like the Tavis Smiley Show, as well as businesses and residences in Palm Beach, Florida. Venus’ company also designed New York City’s Olympic apartments in the U.S.’s failed bid to host the Summer Olympics in 2012.
Venus’ net worth also includes her own fashion line, EleVen, which she launched in 2007 with Steve & Barry’s. She debuted the line at New York Fashion Week in 2012. Venus, along with her sister Serena, are also minority owners of the Miami Dolphins. Venus also published her first book,Come to Win; On How Sports Can Help You Top Your Profession, in 2010.
In an interview with CNBC in 2018, Venus revealed that she didn’t spend a cent of her $570,000 prize money earnings when she won her first Grand Slam title in 2007. Instead, she put it in the bank.“I really didn’t spend any of it,” she said. “I just didn’t want to become a statistic, or one of those athletes that had it all and then in the end had nothing. That was always in the back of my mind, so it made me want to be more realistic with how I spent money.”
She continued, “I think we all have patterns. Some people are savers instinctually. Other people spend instinctually.” As for what she does “splurge” on, Venus confessed, ““I love jewelry….I go splurge on that occasionally.”
King Richard is available to stream on HBO Max. Here’s how to watch it for free.
Black and White: The Way I See It by Richard Williams
'The Way I See It' by Richard Williams
$14.69$17.0014% Off
For more about Serena and Venus Williams, read their father Richard Williams’ 2017 memoir, Black and White: The Way I See It. The book follows Richard’s life from his impoverished childhood in Shreveport, Louisiana, in the 1940s to the father of two of the greatest tennis players of all time: Serena and Venus Williams. . “I still feel really close to my father,” Serena says in the book. “We have a great relationship. There is an appreciation. There is a closeness because of what we’ve been through together, and a respect.” Black and White: The Way I See it is described as a story about how a “self-made man” with an “indomitable spirit” made it all possible for himself and his family.
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