Serena Williams’ net worth, family life and Wimbledon return motive | Tennis | Sport

Serena Williams is ditching the school run for a run at her 24th Grand Slam singles title after making the sensational decision to come out of retirement at the age of 44. The American tennis icon confirmed she had reversed her decision by entering the women’s singles draw at Wimbledon, the setting where she celebrated eight Grand Slam titles. Williams opted to leave tennis behind to concentrate on her family, but it appears she has been yearning to return to the court for quite some time.

After four years out of the game, Williams is returning to SW19 as a wildcard entry. When asked to explain the reasons behind her comeback, she joked that “it’s summer” and “the kids aren’t in school”, suggesting she would have her hands full with her children. Given Williams’s 319 weeks spent as world No.1, 73 individual titles, 23 doubles titles, two mixed doubles titles (both Grand Slams), four Olympic gold medals, and career Golden Slam – few would’ve expected her to jump back onto the court after leaving so deliberately.

But former men’s professional player Christopher Eubanks says family is the main reason behind her U-turn. “There’s no changes to her legacy that will come as a result of this return. I don’t see anyone changing their mind about where Serena Williams stands all-time,” Eubanks told The Associated Press on Thursday.

“This is about more than just records. At this point, it’s more about family. Not just playing in front of her daughters, but having her daughters sit there and watch her train every day and have to wake up and put in the long, hard yards and doing fitness and doing treatment. For her daughters to have to watch her be super disciplined, that has to be just as much of a factor.”

That’s quite a noble reason, as if she needed one, to come back to the game she has played since her early childhood. Serena has already played two doubles warmup matches with her sister Venus, before accepting wildcards for both the singles and doubles events, which begin on Monday. After four years out of the game, she returns as an entirely different figure altogether.

What is Serena Williams’ net worth?

Williams is one of the richest female athletes ever, having amassed huge career earnings of $95 million from tennis prize money alone. Her endorsement contracts with Nike, Gatorade and Wilson, in addition to investment deals away from tennis, have propelled her to new heights.

Forbes estimates her personal net worth at about $350 million in 2026, a $50 million rise on the previous year. She established her own company, Serena Ventures, in 2022 to get behind businesses built by women and from ethnic minority backgrounds.

Williams is part of the ownership of the WNBA expansion team Toronto Tempo, which was founded in 2026. She also holds minority stakes in the UFC and the Miami Dolphins NFL franchise.

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Does Serena Williams have a husband?

Serena met tech entrepreneur and Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian during a chance encounter at the Cavalieri Hotel in Rome in May 2015. Williams had been playing at the Italian Open, while Ohanian was there for a conference. After watching their romance blossom into a serious relationship, the couple married in 2017.

Ohanian’s paternal grandparents came to the United States as refugees from the Armenian genocide. His mother, Anke, is German, and his father, Chris, was a travel agent and pharmaceutical technician. He studied computer science at the University of Virginia but soon decided to major instead in business, history and commerce.

When he finished college, he and his college roommate, Steve Huffman, launched MyMobileMenu, a food delivery app. While MyMobileMenu didn’t take off, the pair eventually found massive success with their next idea—an online bulletin board that they named Reddit. In 2006, Condé Nast bought Reddit for an undisclosed sum of between $10 and $20 million, and Ohanian continued on as a board member.

Ohanian, 43, is a major investor in women’s sports, helping grow the US National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL). In May 2025, Ohanian bought a stake in Chelsea Women’s team and sits on its board of directors.

Who are their children?

The couple have two daughters, eight-year-old Alexis Olympia and Adira River, who is almost three. Shortly after Olympia’s birth, Williams and Ohanian tied the knot.

Remarkably, Williams won the Australian Open in 2017 while she was eight weeks pregnant. Ohanian later revealed that Serena ‘nearly died’ during labour when giving birth to Olympia: “After my wife nearly died giving birth, I spent months at home caring for my family,” he wrote in The New York Magazine.

A big hint about Williams’ return came when she posted a video of a training session last month with Adira on court helping with a resistance band: “Rumour has it…I got a new trainer,” Williams wrote in her Instagram caption.

Now, after spending years raising her two little girls, they will be watching on from the stands as she takes to the famous Wimbledon grass again.